Finland is likely to experience a clearly milder-than-average winter, according to the latest seasonal forecast from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, ECMWF, as reported by Foreca.
Some parts of the country could also receive slightly more precipitation than usual.
“The December-to-February period is forecast to be warmer than average across the whole of Europe,” meteorologist Joonas Koskela writes.
“In Finland, temperatures are expected to be 1–2 degrees above the long-term average across the country.”
The forecast also points to above-average precipitation across much of Europe. Drier-than-normal conditions are expected in the Norwegian mountains, across southern and western Iceland and in some parts of the eastern Mediterranean.
Koskela stresses, however, that the forecast still carries considerable uncertainty.
According to the pressure forecast, an area of lower-than-normal atmospheric pressure is expected to extend from the Atlantic across western and central Europe and further east.
Under this scenario, Finland would remain north of the main low-pressure zone.
That could mean low-pressure systems pass south of Finland more frequently than usual, while Finland itself experiences more easterly and northerly airflow.
Those winds could bring colder air masses into the country at times despite the overall seasonal outlook for a milder-than-normal winter.