Lapland is renowned as being the land of fells and northern lights, a place with winters where there’s always snow and harsh temperatures. This is true, but Lapland’s nature has plenty more to offer. Lapland has eight very distinctly different seasons, a limited but diverse flora and fauna, and expansive river waterways. Lapland’s nature has species typical for such climates, species that are well acclimatized to the changing conditions of the region.  

What images do you see when you think about Lapland’s nature? Do you see snowy fells? Or perhaps reindeers or marshes blooming with cloudberries? The possibilities are many, as in the real world when you take a trip into Lappish nature. These pages showcase the diversity of Lapland’s nature.

In Lapland, the eight seasons of the year differ greatly from each other. There are various factors affecting the climate, and it is thanks to them that we can enjoy warm and sunny summer days, frosty and beautiful winter days, as well as the uniqueness of the Polar Night and Polar Day, the long periods of continuous night and day.

Familiarise yourself with Lapland’s nature.

Winter

Winter – Snowy, cold and very beautiful winter, take in Finnish Lapland from December to February followed by sunny and refreshing Spring. It starts snowing around November. In winter the snow cover can be even one meter thick.

Special in Laplands winter is Kaamos – a polar night, dark period which lasts about 4 months, when the sun doesn’t rise at all. Kaamos begins in October – November, and later in winter daylight lasts only a few hours. The temperature in winter can vary from +0 sometimes to even  -35 degrees.

Cold days, however, we have only rarely, and dressing right protects against the frost (cold). Finns enjoy being outdoors in the wintertime. There are plenty of winter activities they enjoy, such as cross-country skiing, skating, snow shoeing, skiing, ice-hockey, snowmobiling, ice- fishing and many many other.

Especially children love winter. They can build snow castles, make snow angels, toboggan, sledding, play snowball competitions and other plays. During the snowy winter people also spent time indoors. Of course the houses are warm and cozy – As the Finns themselves.

Spring

Spring – the sunny season, which begins in March after the winter. Spring months are March, April and May. The days become brighter and longer. When the sun is shining the snow and ice melt away. However, in Lapland spring months are the best cross-country skiing and ski time. Nature comes to life, migratory birds return from the south, grass and the leaves of the trees will begin to greening up again. Summer is near, people are more energetic and waiting for the summer entry. During the Spring Finns celebrates the Easter and May Day- Vappu in Finnish. Vappu is on 1st of May, and it’s the feast of the work.

Summer

Summer – June, July and August are the summer months. Finnish summer is really beautiful. Nature is green, the days are long, and the sun is shining. People spend a lot of time outdoors in nature. Finns want to keep their holidays during the summer. The most popular holiday month is July. Summer’s biggest festival is the Midnight Summer festival.

The sun doesn’t go down in the north at all. Summer in Finland is short, but it’s very bright. In Lapland the sun doesn’t go down in 70 days. That’s called “nightless night”. Also in southern Finland is bright. Day can be 20 hours long. When in Finland there is more than 25 degrees warm, there is heat. Warm in the summer can be up to 30-35 degrees.

In very hot weather can quickly become thunder. In summer people swim and fish a lot, because there are a lot of lakes in Finland there are also a lot of beaches and clean water. In the summer the Finns spend a lot of time in their owned summer cottages. If people do not own a cottage, they can always go to campsite and rent one, or sleep in a tent.

Autumn

Autumn – September, October and November are the months of Autumn. Autumn is rainy and colourful season. In autumn the leaves of the trees are yellow and red. The days will become shorter and darker, evenings are dark again.  

The weather turns cold and windy, and it rains a lot. In September it rains, in October and November it is sleeting and snowing. Leaves fall from the trees and the migratory birds flies out of Finland. In Lapland, autumn begins in late August, in southern Finland at the end of September.

In Lapland there are fall colors in autumn. It means that the whole Lapland is very colorful, because the ground, trees and bushs are all yellow and red. Autumn in the forest there is a lot of mushrooms and berries that people collect. In the autumn, some people hunt animals. You can hunt only when there is hunting time.

Animals have different hunting seasons. For example elks may be hunted only when there is the elk hunting season. Autumn is also a time of waiting, people are waiting for the snow and start looking forward to the winter and Christmas.

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