The lowest early winter temperature so far was recorded at Sodankylä in Finnish Lapland, -31 degrees Celsius on Thursday evening. Cold weather is expected to continue and it is likely that more November low temperature records will be broken.

The -30 degree mark was also broken at Utsjoki and Enonontekiö in the far north. In southern parts of the country, night time temperatures were 5 to 7 degrees below freezing and in central regions around -10.

According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the next few days will be unseasonably cold, with temperatures this chilly nationwide seen only about once a decade. Some of the lows forecast for central regions have only been recorded once a century.

"Overall, the northern hemisphere is not, however, colder than normal. For example the Canadian north-east and Greenland are warmer than usual," says YLE meteorologist Matti Huutonen.

Finland last saw a similar late November freeze in 2004.

Harsh Weather Delays Train Services

Several train services faced delays on Thursday owing to harsh weather conditions. Snow-jammed points at the Ilmala depot prevented trains from reaching their departure platforms at Helsinki Central Railway Station on time.

Failure of a safety device also caused delays to local Helsinki commuter services.