Year 2025 was Finland's second warmest year on record
The year 2025 began with widely milder-than-usual weather. For example, March was record warm in places along the western and southwestern coasts, and spring started early. However, cooler and more unsettled weather periods were experienced in late spring and early summer, which meant that May and June were slightly cooler than usual. The average temperature for the whole country was 4.5 degrees, which is 1.6 degrees more than the long-term average for 1991‒2020. The annual average temperature varied from approximately +8 degrees Celsius in the Southwest Archipelago to approximately zero degrees in northwestern Lapland. The annual average temperatures were 1‒2 degrees higher than average, in most parts of the country. Across most of the country, the average temperatures per station were the second highest, remaining only slightly below the average temperatures of the record year 2020. Only in May, June and August was the average temperature in the whole country slightly lower than usual. All other months were warmer than usual. September was once again record warm, following a record warm September in 2024 and 2023. The highest temperature in 2025 was 32.6 degrees Celsius, which was measured at Oulu Airport, on 31 July. The lowest temperature of the year, -39.6 degrees, was measured at the Tulppio observation station in Savukoski, on 4 February.
East remained dry while west and north saw above-average rainfall
In most parts of the country, annual precipitation was normal or slightly higher than usual. However, in the central part of the country, precipitation levels were lower than average in the area east of Central Finland, and, in some places, even unusually low. This was particularly reflected in the exceptionally low water level in the Lake Saimaa water system. The highest annual precipitation was observed at the Paljakka observation station in Puolanka, where it rained 835,1 mm. Total precipitation was lowest in Haapaniemi, Viitasaari, where it was 445 mm. The highest amount of precipitation in a single day was 86 millimetres measured at Kotaniemi, Ruokolahti, on 18 June.
Lapland had plenty of snow in December
The average temperature in December 2025 varied between approximately +5 degrees Celsius in the Southwest Archipelago and -11 degrees in Northern Lapland. The average temperature was widely three to five degrees higher than the average temperature in the 1991–2020 reference period. In Lapland, the average temperature was mainly approximately 0.5 degrees higher than usual. The lowest temperature of the month, -35.3 degrees Celsius, was recorded at the village centre in Kilpisjärvi, on 31 December. The highest temperature of the month, +8.9 degrees, was recorded at the Mariehamn Airport, on 10 December. Precipitation levels in December were largely normal or slightly higher than usual. In Lapland and Kuusamo, the monthly precipitation levels were exceptionally high, in places, and station-specific rainfall records for December were broken, in places. For example, in Tähtelä, Sodankylä, December was the rainiest in 115 years of weather records, with a 79.5 mm total rainfall measured at the station. The month’s highest precipitation was 94.0 millimetres, and it was measured in Mustavaara in Ristijärvi, Kainuu. The lowest precipitation, 38.3 mm, was recorded at the Lepaa observation station in Hattula, Kanta-Häme. The greatest amount of precipitation in a single day was 25.5 millimetres, recorded in Sjunby, Siuntio, on 8 December. The ground remained covered in snow throughout December mainly in Lapland. After mid-December, almost all of Finland gradually got a snow cover, but towards the end of the month it melted on the country's southern coasts. At the end of the month, there was 0-15 centimetres of snow in the southern and central parts of the country and in the western part of North Ostrobothnia. Kainuu, Koillismaa and Lapland had 20–65 centimetres of snow. The largest snow depth in December was 70 centimetres, measured in Kenttärova, Kittilä, on 22 December. December saw a total of 18 to 25 hours of sunshine on the southern and western coasts, while in other parts of the country the sun shined mainly for 0 to 6 hours. Compared to the long-term average, the number of sunshine hours was typical for December. Central Finland saw unusually little sunshine, less than an hour in December.
Further information
Weather statistics from the Climate Service, tel. +358 600 1 0601 (€ 4.06/min + local network fee)
Meteorologists use the word exceptional when the statistical likelihood of the occurrence of a weather phenomenon is on average three times or fewer in 100 years. A phenomenon is seen as rare when it occurs less frequently than once every ten years on average.
