As Arctic climate warms, even Santa runs short of snow

Rovaniemi should be pretty with snow at this time of year, but instead it is wet and grey. © Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP

Rovaniemi (AFP) – With a month to go until Christmas, Santa Claus is busy preparing, but the warming climate and lack of snow in his Arctic hometown have him worried.

By this time of year, the town of Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland – marketed by tourism officials since the 1980s as the "real" home of Santa Claus – should be white and pretty.