Thousands of Lapland tourists have been left stranded after all flights at Finland’s Kittila airport were cancelled over Arctic cold temperatures.
The Finnish Meteorological Service forecast temperatures hitting as low as -39C on Monday, while conditions did not improve past -35C on Sunday.
Flights back to European cities including London, Bristol, Manchester, Paris and Amsterdam were all affected. One flight from Helsinki to Rovaniemi was also grounded.
The third day of freezing conditions has made airports inoperable as it becomes difficult to de-ice planes, and use maintenance and refuelling equipment that can also seize up in the cold.
Finavia, airport operator, told public broadcaster Yle that conditions were made worse by moisture creating a slippery frost causing even more hazardous conditions. They said ground equipment connectors and vehicle hatches had frozen over while refuelling and de-icing were made impossible.
“Decisions to cancel flights are always made by airlines,” Finavia said in a statement. “But conditions of around -40C can cause challenges for ground operations.”
While the airport remains open for customers, the runways have remained empty for a third day in a row, according to the Helsinki Times.
Finavia told The Independent: “At the moment, the weather forecasts predict slightly milder temperatures for the coming days. Weather conditions affect air traffic worldwide, and changes caused by weather are normal in aviation.
“The situation during last weekend has been very challenging for airlines and the airport community, and extremely unfortunate for those passengers whose flights have not operated as planned.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused to passengers and we have been working closely with the airlines to minimize the impact as much as possible.”
A bus carrying Ukrainian passengers skidded into a ditch last week in Northern Ostrobothnia, as the country struggles with the Arctic conditions – no serious injuries were reported in the incident.
Fintraffic reported difficult road conditions across 93 per cent of the country on Monday. It issued warnings across wide areas of Finland from North Karelia and the Åland Islands up to Kokkolan and Iisalmi, due to snowfall, drifting snow and slippery road conditions in milder areas.
Tourists have been advised to contact airlines to discuss rebooking their flights as well as accommodation and alternative travel arrangements.
Europe has suffered from perilous conditions across the continent with at least six reported deaths including five in accidents caused by icy conditions in France and one death by a snow-laden branch falling on the head of a woman in Sarajevo in Bosnia.
In Germany, two people died in a head-on collision between two cars in Bavaria, when a car is thought to have skidded because of the weather. A driver was killed in the Upper Palatinate region when his car veered off the road and crashed into a tree, German news agency dpa reported.
At least 320,000 homes were left without power on Friday as strong winds battered France, with most of the outages reported in the Normandy region.
Millions visit Lapland every year – a region covering Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia – especially around the festive period.
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