April was in many places warmer than average and with higher precipitation

According to the figures of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, April in Finland was 0.5–1.5 degrees warmer than the long-term average. The largest deviation from the average was seen in Lapland. The month's average temperature varied from +4°C in the southern parts of the country to around -1°C in Northern Lapland.

The last time there was a warmer April was in 2016. The figures show that 14 of the Aprils so far this century have been warmer than normal when compared to the average for 1981–2010.

The month's highest temperature was 21.1°C, recorded in Jomala on 20 April. The lowest temperature, at -25.9°C, was recorded at the village centre in Kilpisjärvi on 1 April.

Plenty of precipitation in both the South and the North

In many areas, April saw higher precipitation levels than usual. Especially in the provinces of Päijät-Häme and Kymenlaakso and in Kittilä municipality, levels were around 180% higher than normal. The highest level of precipitation, at 63.3 mm, was measured in Pokka, Kittilä and the lowest, at 9.1 mm, in Näkkälä, Enontekiö.

At the end of April, the area of snow cover stretched from the northern part of North Karelia to the coast of the Bay of Bothnia. In Lapland, the snow depth was still around half a metre, which for most of the area is higher than average.

Spring began late in the South and early in the North

Thermal spring got going in the first week of April in southern and central parts of the country, which is 1–2 weeks later than average for the South. In the second week of April, thermal spring began also in northern Lapland, which is around 1.5 weeks earlier than normal.

Further information:

Weather statistics for April (in Finnish): http://ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/huhtikuuOnline journal Ilmastokatsaus (in Finnish): www.ilmastokatsaus.fi

Meteorologists tweet about the weather on Twitter: @meteorologit