Thousands of households in southern and western parts of Finland were still without electricity Friday morning following Wednesday’s winter storm.
The numerous blackouts were the result of trees burdened by packed snow falling on power lines. Massive efforts by the power utilities Fortum and Vattenfall were still underway on Friday to restore service.
In the southern city of Riihimäki electric blackouts damaged ultraviolet light equipment in the city’s water utility on Thursday. As a precaution, extra chlorine was added to parts of the water supply. The fixtures were later repaired, and the chlorination was suspended.
There were also stoppages at the Haapahuhta water purification plant in the southwest on Wednesday. Normal operation has been restored.
Water service was cut off on Thursday in parts of Nurmijärvi, north of Helsinki.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute reports that November was a month of record-high temperatures in most parts of Finland. In Central Finland and Oulu Province, it was the mildest November since 1900.
The whole autumn has been unusually warm this year. From late October to mid-November mild and damp conditions prevailed in Finland, keeping temperatures at about 10 degrees Celsius as far north as Oulu Province.
November was also a month of heavy precipitation, varying between 70 and 100 mm. - up to two times higher than average.
The snow cover in Finnish Lapland is now between 30 and 40 centimetres thick.
