• 

• 

• 

• 

Slippery conditions and blowing snow led to hundreds of accidents, injuries, traffic jams and road closures on Friday. At least 40 people were hospitalized, some with serious injuries. Rail and air services also experienced delays. Bad weather continued on Saturday especially in south eastern parts of the country.

Snow is continuing to fall in some southern coastal areas. Elsewhere bitterly cold temperatures are still being reported. A new temperature record of -40.3 degrees Celsius was recorded on Saturday in Kuusamo in eastern Finland.

The severe weather conditions on Friday brought havoc to roads in and around the capital. By late Friday afternoon, Helsinki police had received reports of over 200 accidents. On Saturday, police continued their investigations into the accidents trying to ascertain the identity of motorists involved in accidents.

All the capital region's main road arteries were congested and all were experiencing problems caused by the large number of accidents.

A chain collision involving dozens, possibly up to a hundred cars took place early Friday afternoon on the Lahti motorway, close to the Jakomäki district of Helsinki.

Another multi-vehicle collision was also reported on the Lahti motorway near Koivukylä.

Bad driving conditions and slippery roads continued on Saturday in the south.

Hospitals on heightened alert

Emergency services were unable to respond to every call because of the volume of accidents. By 4PM, at least 40 people had been hospitalized, some with serious injuries.

Facilities in the Helsinki Hospital District were placed on a heightened alert status. A first-level disaster alert was in force at seven hospitals in the region.

Preparations had been made to treat large numbers of surgical patients at various units.

Public transport hit

Tram services in Helsinki suffered delays on Friday. Some trams were running on alternative routes because of rail and traffic conditions.

Also, bus, metro and commuter train services experienced problems.

Schedules for commuter trains were temporally revised Friday afternoon and some departures were cancelled.

Long-distance trains headed for eastern and northern destinations were leaving Helsinki's main railway station 30 to 60 minutes behind schedule. Delays continued overnight and on Saturday.

The need to clear runways at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport reduced landing and take-off capacity by a third on Friday afternoon.