Too hot for Santa: Finland’s summer woes

While some of the world is battling forest fires and floods, Finland is grappling with milder summertime woes: record-breaking heat, an explosion of goose poop, and the specter of Father Christmas sweating through his red suit. Yet even as Finns endure their longest heatwave on record, will it be enough to stop them heating up their saunas? 

This summer, Finland shattered its previous benchmark of 13 consecutive days over 30 °C (86 °F), reaching 15 days above 30 °C, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI). Even more startling: parts of Lapland experienced three full weeks (around 21 days) of daytime highs above 30 °C. Something unprecedented in the FMI data since records began in 1961.

Too ho-ho-ho-hot for Santa

High in the Arctic Circle at Santa’s village in Rovaniemi, they’re calling it Ho‑ho‑ho hot!

“Even as August temperatures dip from the extreme heat of July, they are still keeping Santa and his reindeer on high alert,” says Liisa Ansala, CEO of the Lapland Chamber of Commerce. Temperatures in Rovaniemi continue to hover around 27 °C (81 °F) as the evening sun lingers, and a yellow alert remains in force. “So it’s still hot enough for Santa to consider trading his fur-lined suit for a cotton kimono, or at least, a set of reindeer-print boxer shorts,” Ansala jokes.

But the big question: is Santa still going to sauna?

“Yes!” Despite the heat, Ansala can confirm that Santa is still taking regular saunas. Finns are known for their love of saunas from the Arctic to the desert. Finnish UN Peacekeepers have famously set up tent saunas in places like Sinai and Namibia. Still, back at home, with the current heatwave, you might think they would be pressing pause on their favorite pastime. (In Finland, there are reportedly more saunas than cars.) But chef and restaurateur, Mikko Kosonen, won’t hear of it. While he doesn’t love the high temperatures, he wouldn’t think of skipping sauna.

“It’s a different kind of heat, more intense,” Kosonen explains. “When you go in, it’s like sweating off the day and washing it all away, so you feel really refreshed.”

Kosonen’s American husband Rob Wing finds the thought of going into a 90°C  (194°F) room on a sweltering summer day to be borderline absurd. But, on the other hand, he’s fully enjoying the high outdoor temperatures. “No extra heat needed,” he says.

For Finnish entrepreneur Hanna Liappis, sauna is a ritual – not something to be debated along with the weather.  “For me, going to sauna means taking care of body and mind. As well as getting really clean, it’s a meditation – or quiet place to reflect. And a way to separate the workday from the evening.”

During the summer, Helsinki-based Liappis has been staying at her countryside cottage, where she doesn’t just flick a switch to get the sauna going. Her commitment is such that she actually gathers and carries the logs to light the wood-fired sauna, all in spite of the stifling heat.

And if this still doesn’t make sense, Kosonen can offer a practical perspective:

“You could look at this way,” he says, half joking half serious. “If you go into 90-degree heat and stay there long enough, the 30-degree heat when you come out is going to seem a lot cooler!”

Is this climate change in action?

While the current heatwave can partly be attributed to unseasonably warm weather, climate change is also playing a significant role. Speaking to the BBC, Liz Bentley, Chief Executive of the UK’s Royal Meteorological Society, said that it’s not just the heat itself, but it’s persistence that’s so unusual.

“There is an area of high pressure that’s led to settled weather, but really, it is down to climate change,” she explained. “We’re seeing more frequent heatwaves, and when they happen, they’re more persistent and more intense.”

Bentley also pointed to much higher ocean temperatures — up to six degrees above normal — as a key factor intensifying the heat.

To help residents cope, some Finnish cities are opening up ice hockey rinks as makeshift cooling centres. But even traditional ways of cooling down are falling short. Lakes that would normally offer relief on hot days now reaching temperatures around 25°C (77°F) so swimming doesn’t offer much respite either.

 Close-up on goose poop

The heat isn’t Finland’s only unbearable burden, goose poop is also making headlines this summer, with urban parks and waterfronts increasingly crowded with barnacle geese and their fluffy offspring, all leaving their mark as they go.

One adult goose can produce up to 18 kilos (40 pounds) of droppings per week, and with flocks in the hundreds, the mess quickly adds up. In Helsinki, park workers have been battling in in places like Hietaniemi beach, where cleanup crews work overtime to keep paths and grassy areas as poop-free as possible.

Further north in Lahti, the goose problem has prompted local volunteers to form a “Goose Patrol”. Originally set up in 2023, volunteers in blue vests walk the sand and gently guide the geese away from public beaches. Early in the summer, drones were trialled to guide geese away, but these were grounded once the chicks were born because of the risk of goslings getting separated from parents. Seija Nurkkala, the city’s maintenance horticulturist, told Yle that the geese are getting more and more cunning, learning to avoid workers wearing blue vests, and on patrol-free days, they boldly return to reclaim their turf.

But it’s not just the poop that’s a problem. For some Finns it’s the sheer presence of hundreds of birds marching towards them in formation. Helsinki-based lawyer Aija Kuurne runs regular paths through goose territory. She’s not fazed by droppings, but admits large flocks can feel threatening and hard to get past. She’s developed her own hack for parting the flock, which she calls helicopter arms.

“I just spin my arms like this,” she says, windmilling as she runs. “I can usually get through without slowing down, and we all part ways amicably.”

Now as the geese prepare to fly south and Santa starts prepping for Christmas, many Finns may be quietly anticipating cooler days ahead. With most Finnish homes lacking air conditioning, even the world’s top sauna lovers might appreciate a bit of natural chill.