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“One never gets used to this. It is so beautiful,” says Mika Lehtoa, a physics teacher at the Valkeala High School in Kouvola, southern Finland.

Seija Paasonen of the Finnish Meteorological Institute says that such breathtaking winter scenery is quite rare, at least in southern Finland.

“I don’t remember anything like this ever happening in my lifetime,” she says.

Paasonen adds that scenery like this is quite typical in northern parts of the country.

Frost forms when gas transforms directly into a solid, bypassing the liquid stage. Non-windy conditions, as well as freezing temperatures and water vapour, are necessary for hoar frost to form.

“Frost appears as individual crystals, for example on the surface of grass in the autumn. Hoar frost is thicker. Individual ice crystals are not apparent. Instead they merge together,” says Lehtola.

The conditions are also favourable for drying laundry outside.

”Hoar frost will form on laundry when it is hung up outside. The frost will then evaporate directly into water vapour. Drying takes several days, but the clothes will dry, if the weather is dry,” adds Lehtola.

Lehtola says hoar frost is short-lived and should be enjoyed now. He predicts that the winter wonderland will disappear sometime next week when temperatures get a bit warmer.