British soldiers learn from Finns how to survive Arctic conditions

By Reuters December 29, 2025
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In Finland’s frozen Arctic, homegrown soldiers help British ones adapt to the freezing temperatures. Although a new member of NATO, the Finns demonstrated their fighting capabilities – and local know-how on how to deal with a key fighting factor: the weather.

Finnish soldiers at Vuosanka near Kajaani as British soldiers train during a major exercise on NATO’s border with Russia. A company of 3 Rifles, based in Edinburgh, has spent six weeks training in the north of Finland, during where they honed their survival skills in temperatures as low as minus 28 degrees Celsius.

British soldiers endured immersion in the ice and minus 28 degree Celsius temperatures during winterization training with new NATO partner Finland.

C Company of the Edinburgh-based 3 Rifles spent six weeks in northern and central Finland, learning survival techniques and putting their cold-weather kit through its paces.

Rifleman James Whittingham, 30, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, said: “It’s challenging but it’s good fun.

“The main thing is to make sure you don’t get wet.

“We’ve got enough stuff to keep us warm but if we get wet it’s going to be endex (end of the exercise) for you.”

Rifleman Whittingham praised the Finns for their Fighting in Woods and Forests skills, known in the army as FIWAF, and said the British soldiers had practised their firing positions while on skis.

“We did a lot of survival stuff, they showed us how they basha up (shelter) in these conditions.

“They use fires while we try not to use that, but obviously your survival in minus 28 comes before anything else.

“So there’s a lot of things we picked up.”

    British soldiers in Vusoanka near Kajaani in Finland training during a major exercise on NATO’s border with Russia. A company of 3 Rifles, based in Edinburgh, has spent six weeks training in the north of Finland, during where they honed their survival skills in temperatures as low as minus 28 degrees Celsius.

    Corporal Reece Wilkinson-Wilson, 25, from Nottingham, said: “The temperatures and the environment definitely are out to get you out here.

    “There’s no way of just cruising through the environment.”

    Speaking of the Finnish soldiers, he said: “They train only for this, where we train for many different environments, so they’re very well-adapted to the cold.

    “They’re quite serious in some aspects but they are good lads and they all want to be here.

    “They’re conscripts and they want to be here.

    “They are training entirely with Russia in mind, there’s no other adversary and they’re training to defend their homeland.”

    Corporal Chris Rowland, 35, from Seaham, County Durham, said the deployment was about learning to survive in the conditions of the newest NATO partner.

    Finnish soldiers at Vuosanka near Kajaani as British soldiers train during a major exercise on NATO’s border with Russia. A company of 3 Rifles, based in Edinburgh, has spent six weeks training in the north of Finland, during where they honed their survival skills in temperatures as low as minus 28 degrees Celsius.

    “We’re getting to know them and learn to survive and operate in a cold weather environment,” he said.

    Asked how the 3 Rifles were adapting to the environment, he said: “Being a northerner, I’d like to think I’ve done a lot better than other people.”

    Corporal Rowland was impressed with the scale of Operation Northern Ax, the joint training exercise with the Finns which lasted five days and involved two opposing forces in a simulated forest battle.

    He said: “The amount of infrastructure and capabilities that they have on this exercise, I haven’t seen it from any exercise I’ve been on in the last 15 years.”

    Rifleman Aaron Hunter, 21, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, said his unit had learned to operate in the cold by layering up their kit.

    He said: “Up north, it was a different cold that I have never experienced myself.

    “It was a case of making sure you’re keeping thick gloves on all the time and keeping moving because frostbite could hit within 10 minutes.”

    He described the Finnish conscripts and reservists that have been working alongside the 3 Rifles as “very impressive,” adding: “For the time they have served, their performance is fantastic.”

    The locals were experts in surviving the cold, he said, adding: “We did an ice dip while we were up north and one of the Finns remained in there for five minutes, talking to us about how it was and then all the rest of us spent 30 seconds in there.

    “We were in a different state we’ve never been in before.

    “Everyone was pretty bad at it and they’re fantastic.”

    Asked about the Finns’ perception of the possibility of Russian invasion, he said: “The threat from their neighbours is a big one, it’s mainly why we are out here also.

    “It’s a big talking point for the Finns and they think it’s a very high level threat that could be around the corner – who knows?”

    Major Henry Wootton, based in Edinburgh, said his men needed to consume 5,000 calories a day just to stay warm in the Arctic conditions.

    He said: “The usual ration pack is around 3,000, so there’s a lot more calories in there because your metabolism is going at full gas the whole time just to generate warmth.

    “Just by being outside, you’re burning a lot of calories so making your way through all that mashed potato is absolutely essential.”

    He said the Finnish conscripts and reservists were “super professional,”, adding: “They are outdoorsmen and women, largely, and we are learning a lot from their ability to survive in this environment.”