Researcher Sirpa Lehtinen from the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) said that cyanobacteria exist in seawater all year round, but intense heat causes them to multiply quickly.

According to the Natural Resources Institute (Luke), the wolf population is expanding into the south and west – but winter will once more contain their numbers.

Sightings of great egrets have been reported for decades, but sightings this summer confirm the first time the species has nested in Finland.

High winds blasted across south-western Finland Friday, cutting electricity to customers. The rare June storm peaked on Friday afternoon.

Spring - or rather thermal spring - could be arriving to Finland as early as this week in southern and western areas.

The H5N8 virus was detected in sick and injured birds in February and early March this year, including in a swan found dead in Helsinki's Eläintarhanlahti park and a goshawk sent to Korkeasaari Wildlife Hospital from Kumpula. Several birds infected with avian influenza have been found in Uusimaa this winter.

The blaze destroyed large swathes of forest this week.

Flocks of whooper swans have been grazing in a field in southwestern Finland, although these swans don't typically return to Finland until March or April, according to Finland’s environment administration.

Reports of symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting are being investigated in South Ostrobothnia.

According to Simo Laine, head horticulturalist at botanical garden in Turku, southwest Finland, it could well be the first time that the blooms have made an appearance in the country as early as January.

Powder on the ground is nearly one meter deep in some parts of Finland's northernmost region.

The Pallas's reed bunting has been sighted fewer than 10 times in Europe.

Despite recent rain, groundwater levels remain at near-record lows. Markku Rantti, head of the local village association, says some wells in the area only have about 20 cm of water at the bottom.

Helsinki usually gets 70-80 millimetres of rain during August. Friday morning alone brought 56 mm of water to Kaisaniemi Park, where the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has a weather station.

Record wind speeds have been clocked in southern maritime districts as a storm dubbed Aapeli causes widespread power cuts and train delays across Finland.

The warmest springtime temperature of the year so far is 14.1 degrees Celsius, and fires are popping up around the country.

The mercury hit 16.6 degrees C at Mariehamn airport on Friday, beating Tuesday’s record-breaking high of 14.7 C in Pori.

An exceptionally warm air current from the southeast has kept days and nights unseasonably mild in southern and central Finland since last week. Meanwhile the north of the country has been shivering with rain and temperatures in the single digits. The highest reading in decades was recorded in Kokemäki, southwest Finland.

In the frigid waters of the Gulf of Finland, cyanobacteria has been observed for the first time during the winter months.

There are unusually low numbers of mosquitoes throughout Finland this sweltering summer – and likely fewer than usual next year as well.