State Railways VR reported train delays in various parts of Finland on Monday as the mercury plunged to between -15 and -32 degrees Celsius throughout the country. Temperatures could drop to -40C in parts of northern Finland on Monday, and below -20 in the Helsinki region.
A broken-down IC train from Joensuu to Helsinki was causing delays to other train traffic, according to VR's communications department.
As of midday, an IC train from Helsinki to Vaasa that left at 9:20am was an hour late as VR awaited replacement rolling stock. Meanwhile another Helsinki-bound IC that departed from Jyväskylä at 7:19am was about two hours late due to a technical fault.
There were also delays of 15-30 minutes on trains from Helsinki to Pieksämäki, Jyväskylä, Turku and Rovaniemi.
An earlier train from Helsinki to Kemijärvi was delayed by about 40 minutes due to a track system fault.
Some flights 2-4 hours late on Monday
Meanwhile, Helsinki Airport has experienced delays in arriving and departing flights over the weekend due to poor weather conditions in Europe, airport operator Finavia reports.
Flights arriving from Amsterdam and Copenhagen were cancelled on Sunday, when more than 400 flights were cancelled in the Netherlands. Sweden also suffered from a snowstorm that hit Stockholm's Arlanda Airport over the weekend.
On Monday, Finavia announced more delays in take-offs and landings. For example, a flight to Amsterdam that was scheduled to leave at 8:15am did not take off until after noon. A plane slated to arrive from London Heathrow at 12:20 was nearly two hours behind schedule.
More cold wintry weather is predicted throughout Finland this week, with potentially heavy snowfall on Wednesday in the southwest and along the south coast, including the capital region.
This winter's cold record so far was -39.9 degrees, measured in Enontekiö, northwest Lapland, on Friday.
Electricity pricey on Epiphany due to high consumption and light winds
Spot prices for electricity are set to remain moderately expensive on Tuesday, with the daily average price at over 16 cents per kilowatt-hour.
The price will not drop below 10 cents until late evening. The cold weather is boosting consumption, while relatively calm conditions are limiting wind power production, which accounts for around a quarter of the country’s electricity supply.
Wind power production is expected to increase slightly during the day on Tuesday progresses, but to decline again on Wednesday.
Tuesday is a national holiday in Finland, marking Epiphany – and the end of the Christmas holidays for most people. Most schools reopen on Wednesday.
4.35pm: Updated with electricity prices and Epiphany holiday.
