Thousands of tourists stranded in Lapland as cold grounds flights

Thousands of tourists have been stranded in Finnish Lapland after severe cold weather halted flights from one of its airports.

Departures from Lapland’s Kittila airport, which would have taken winter travelers back to places such as London, Bristol, Manchester, Paris and Amsterdam, were canceled on Sunday as temperatures failed to rise above -35C on Sunday.

The problem is expected to continue on Monday as the lowest temperature is predicted to be -39C by the Finnish meteorological office. The first flight from Kittila has already been cancelled.

Extreme cold makes it difficult to de-ice aircraft, while maintenance and refueling equipment on the ground can also freeze.

Airport operator Finavia told public broadcaster Yle that moisture in the air was making the situation worse by causing slippery frost.

While Lapland, which includes northern Norway, Sweden and Finland, is known for cold and snow, Finnish Lapland has an average temperature of -14C during the winter months, occasionally dropping as low as -30C, according to the country’s tourism board.

Kittila airport caters mainly to those wishing to travel to nearby ski resorts and see the Northern Lights, while Rovaniemi airport further south is the “official” destination for those visiting Santa Claus’s folkloric home.

A flight from Rovaniemi was canceled on Sunday.

It was reported that flights into and out of Kittila were also canceled on Friday and Saturday.

The cold weather has also made the roads particularly dangerous, with Fintraffic warning of icy conditions in the area.

A bus full of Ukrainian passengers crashed into a ditch on Sunday morning, Yle told local police. It was stated that no serious injuries occurred.

The unusually cold weather in Lapland comes as a storm passes over northern Europe, creating wintry conditions in Britain, France and Germany and causing travel disruptions.

While a man died when a tree fell on his caravan in England, there was a power outage in approximately 100,000 homes in France on Saturday.