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Storm Hannes subsides, but blackouts linger

Air traffic has resumed at Finland's northern airports.

Flights were cancelled at Rovaniemi Airport on Saturday.
  • Yle News

Storm Hannes battered Finland overnight, inflicting unusually severe damage in areas serviced by electricity network operator Elenia.

Powerful gusts on Saturday night felled trees, severed power lines and disrupted transport. For Elenia, the storm triggered the most severe outage in a decade.

Conditions eased around 9am on Sunday.

According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), the storm's effects persisted into Sunday morning, particularly in south-western sea areas, where gale-force winds continued.

On Sunday morning, more than 105,000 households were without electricity, down from a peak of over 180,000. Emergency services along the western coast have handled well over a thousand storm-related incidents.

Air traffic has resumed at airports in Rovaniemi, Kittilä and Ivalo.

In neighbouring Sweden, several train and ferry services scheduled for Saturday were cancelled, and bridges were closed to traffic.

Ett flygplan i snön i mörkret.
At Kittilä Airport, strong winds blew a passenger aircraft and a light plane into a snowbank. Image: Satu Renko / Lehtikuva
Lentokentällä hirveä määrä ihmisiä.
The storm caused chaos at Rovaniemi Airport, with poor weather forcing many flights to be delayed or cancelled. Image: Juuso Stoor / Yle
Auton tuulilasi on hajonnut ja siinä on pieniä puunpaloja.
A tree fell onto a car during the storm in Ulvila. Image: Jouni Lehtinen
Puu on kaatunut tien päälle ja repinyt sähköjohtoja mukaansa.
The storm brought down trees across the country. Image: Juha Virranniemi / Yle

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