Tropical storms heading toward Finland?
While parts of Finland are basking in sunny, summer-like weather on Tuesday, two powerful storms now over the Atlantic could impact its weather this weekend.
Tropical storm Leslie is now near Newfoundland, Canada. Leslie is expected to dump as much as 200 millimetres of rain on the island, potentially causing floods.
By Thursday the storm centre is projected to hit Iceland before moving on to the rest of Scandinavia. Yle meteorologist Anssi Vähämäki expects Leslie to mingle with a low-pressure system now over the Norwegian Sea.
The storm will be weakening steadily, but should still accelerate winds and bring heavy rain to Finland on Friday and Saturday, he predicts.
Hang onto your hats!
The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) says it’s possible that the remnants of Leslie could bring severe gale-force winds of more than 21 metres a second, but that it will still likely fall within the range of normal autumn storms.
Another storm, Hurricane Michael, is now over the mid-Atlantic, packing winds in excess of 33 metres a second. This storm is also projected to move toward the Nordic region, but slowly.
The FMI says it appears that the remnants of Leslie and Michael will create a low-pressure zone over Scandinavia this weekend.
Leslie never hit hurricane strength, but Michael was at worst a Category 3 hurricane with winds of more than 50 metres per second.
On Tuesday, meanwhile, parts of southern Finland should have fine Indian-summer weather with highs reaching 20 degrees Celsius.
Latest in: News
Valio recalls salad mix over datura fears
A second food product has been withdrawn in Finland because of a risk that it could contain poisonous seeds.
Five-vehicle crash near Kotka kills two
Part of Highway 7 remained closed for more than five hours after the collision.
Swine flu shots boosted adult risk of narcolepsy, too
The national health agency has confirmed that kids weren't the only ones with an elevated risk following the H1N1 jab a few years ago.
Nine people now affected by datura poisoning
Nine people have now been affected by datura contamination from frozen vegetables sold by a Finnish supermarket. Most symptoms are mild, with dry mouth, a quickening pulse and weakened vision the main effects, but some people have required hospital treatment.
Finland criticised again in Amnesty report
The human rights organisation’s annual report is highly critical of Finland’s treatment of asylum seekers. Finland was condemned for deporting asylum seekers without in-country appeals, and the practice of incarcerating children seeking refugee status in police facilities.
FFE: One in four businesses made a loss in 2012
A quarter of all Finnish firms lost money last year, according to the in-house magazine published by the Federation of Finnish Enterprises (FFE).
Baby boomers' alcohol "timebomb" set to hit Finland
Experts fear that retiring baby boomers may over indulge to such an extent that Finland could soon be forced to deal with a large cohort with unusually high levels of alcohol dependence. Incorporating messages about alcohol into basic healthcare will be key to fighting the problem.
Finnish income gap lower than European average
Income differences in Finland are below the average in Europe, according to Statistics Finland. The gap between richest and poorest is largest in Latvia and Bulgaria and smallest in Norway and Iceland.
Two tumble from Töölö balcony
One man died and another was seriously injured on Wednesday morning when they fell from a fifth-floor balcony in the Töölö district of Helsinki.
Evira: Don’t use datura-laced SOK veggies
The Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira has warned consumers not to use a frozen vegetable product sold by the SOK group that was found to be laced with seeds from the highly toxic datura plant.
