Sea smoke is seen at the southern harbor in Helsinki, Finland, Jan. 5, 2017. In the initial days of the new year, Finland has been experiencing a sudden drop to winter temperatures. Authorities have given "frost warnings" to remind residents to keep warm and to avoid risks of health impacts. In the capital city of Helsinki, located in the southern coast area, temperature dropped to less than minus 19 degree Celsius early Friday, whereas in Muonio, northwestern Lapland, temperature was minus 40 degrees Celsius on Thursday. (Xinhua/Sergei Stepanov)
HELSINKI, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- In the initial days of the new year, Finland has been experiencing a sudden drop to winter temperatures. Authorities have given "frost warnings" to remind residents to keep warm and to avoid risks of health impacts.
In the capital city of Helsinki, located in the southern coast area, temperature dropped to minus 17 degree Celsius early Thursday, whereas in Muonio, northwestern Lapland, temperature was minus 40 degrees Celsius.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute's updates at 14:56 Thursday local time warned of coldness for land areas over the whole country and ice accretion over the sea areas in the next 24 hours.
The drop in temperatures was preceded with unusually warm Christmas and New Year.
Finland is well prepared to keep roads clear of snow, but very low temperature may break steel or cause engines to freeze to a slowdown.
