Latest news with #FatherChristmas
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Father Christmas' official Lapland home suffers unseasonal heatwave with 31C temperatures and wildfire fears
Father Christmas ' official home village in Lapland has suffered a record-breaking heatwave, as fears mount that wildfires will ravage the area with increasing frequency. The Arctic city of Rovaniemi in northern Finland, Lapland's capital and home to Santa Claus, has been melting amid unprecedented heat in the region. Lapland, which is 500km above the Arctic Circle, has seen temperatures soar to 31C, more than 10C above the seasonal average. The level of consistent heat has never been experienced in the region before and reindeer have even been forced to flee into roads and villages to escape mosquitos. A heatwave in Finland is defined as at least three days in a row where the temperature exceeds 25C. Friday was the 14th consecutive day that temperatures climbed past 30C in the country - the first time since record began in 1961, the Finnish Meteorological Institute said. Ylitornio and Sodankylä recorded the highest temperatures of 31.7C in Lapland earlier this week, while wildfires have ripped through the wilderness north of Rovaniemi. Lapland is a sparsely populated region and fires can burn for long periods before help arrives. But emergency services responded to dozens of incidents this week, including smoke sightings, building fires, and wildfires. Some schools and nurseries have seen outdoor activities cancelled and health officials have told people to stay hydrated in Rovaniemi. The excessively hot weather has sparked added concern about climate change in the Arctic. The polar region is heating up five times quicker than the global average, the UNs intergovernmental panel on climate change said. 'Due to climate change, these sorts of heatwaves in Lapland are expected to become longer and more intensive over this century, Ville Siiskonen, of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, told The Telegraph. Finland is not alone in feeling the heat as scorching temperatures continue to boil Europe, with two people dying in Cyprus as wildfires raged through the country. The Acropolis in Athens was also closed as temperatures soared past 40C. Meanwhile, England and Spain recorded their hottest ever June's last month. The Met Office said June's mean temperature of 16.9C was a record,while Spain's average of 23.6C 'pulverised records', the national weather service Aemet said.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Climate
- BBC News
Too hot for Santa as Lapland buckles under record heatwave
"Make sure the reindeer have plenty of water - and don't forget to drink a glass every hour too," Santa reminds a team of elves busy making presents for next Christmas as Lapland swelters in a record not every day that Father Christmas finds himself briefing his elves about the hazards of sunstroke, but this summer northern Finland has seen temperatures hover around 30C for days on end. As for Santa, he will be staying indoors most of the day - his bright red costume trimmed with fur is very warm. "I'm only going out for a swim in the lake in the forest after 18:00, when the weather has started to cool off," he says. While Santa's workshop in the city of Rovaniemi is adapting with cheerful resilience, the unusually warm temperatures in the Arctic are a serious matter – and scientists are pointing at climate change as the an unusually cold and rainy spring and early summer, the whole of Finland – including the far north of Lapland, 500km (310 miles) above the Arctic Circle – suddenly became caught up in a continuous spell of hot 25 July, the heatwave in Rovaniemi will have lasted 15 days. In Finland a heatwave is defined as a period of at least three consecutive days where the daily maximum temperature exceeds Meteorological Institute's meteorologist Jaakko Savela explains that in Lapland, where temperatures over 30C are extremely rare, heatwaves like the current one are exceptional."The last time Finnish Lapland had a similarly long heatwave was in 1972," Savela says. But even that only lasted 12 to 14 days, depending on the exact location. "That record has now been broken."It's not just Rovaniemi that's been gripped by scorching temperatures. Several other weather stations across Lapland have registered their longest ever heatwaves since records highest temperature of the heatwave, 31.7C, was measured at two locations, Ylitornio and Sodankylä, earlier this week. That's about 10C above the seasonal average for Lapland. The heatwave has prompted renewed concern about the accelerating pace of climate change in the Arctic, which is warming four to five times faster than the rest of the notes that this particular, long heatwave was not directly caused by climate change. However, he says, "Climate change has had an impact: without it, temperatures over the last two weeks would have been lower".Prof Jeff Weller, University of the Arctic Research Chair at the University of Oulu, is climate change? A really simple guideHeatwaves and extreme weather events in summer and winter alike have become so frequent that they can only have been caused by fundamental changes to the climate system."All over the world, every day, climate change is manifested in extreme heat and extreme precipitation events," says Prof Weller. "The fingerprint of climate change is upon us."Heatwaves are becoming more common due to human-caused climate change, according to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate hot weather will happen more often – and become even more intense – as the planet continues to warm, it has said. The extreme heat is also affecting Lapland's famed reindeer. Celebrated worldwide as Santa's sleigh-pullers at Christmas, reindeer here roam freely across forests and fells. But as they're hounded by mosquitoes – which thrive in hot weather – reindeer are now fleeing to roads and villages in search of relief."For reindeer the only option would be to go to higher, windier elevations but in Finnish Lapland the highest elevation is only about 1,000m (3,300 ft)," says Prof adds that because more extreme and longer heatwaves will occur more frequently in the Arctic in the future, "reindeer herders might end up having to build big barns to provide shade for their animals".It's not just Santa and his reindeer who are struggling. Lapland is traditionally known as a cool tourist destination – but this year, visitors are puzzled."It's super-hot here – 30C is killing me. I came to escape the heat," says Silvia, a tourist from Prague visiting Santa's holiday village in Rovaniemi. "I expected much colder weather and packed the wrong clothes. I only have one short-sleeve t-shirt with me – I've been wearing it every day." It doesn't help that days in Rovaniemi are currently 20 hours a day, so the sun is still shining until well after 23:00 – keeping temperatures up for down in a shady patch in Santa Park is Adita from London, who expected to find temperatures under 20C here. "I can barely even step outside the shade, I feel like I'm on fire when I do," she says."Something similar is happening in the UK but I'm very surprised to see this at the Arctic Circle," she says. "Ice and snow is so integral to this amusement park and the whole of Lapland."Elina, an elf working in Santa's post office, also worries about the future of Lapland's winters: "I'm wondering if heatwaves are now the new normal."For Santa, there is the added problem of having to wear his heavy costume every day of the year. At the moment he only goes outdoors in the evenings once the air starts cooling down, otherwise he risks getting heatstroke in just 10 minutes."Of course a hot summer can be very nice for some but I prefer cold and snow," he says. "Winter is better."
Sydney Morning Herald
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘I was nervous': Peake speaks about playing with Mickelson
Shooting six over in your first round of a major was not how Australian Ryan Peake saw things panning out on Thursday at Portrush. He jokingly referred to himself as 'Father Christmas', that he just kept giving the golf course mistakes wrapped as presents. But a five-hour walk with six-time major winner Phil Mickelson, who gifted him a golf ball and signed his glove for him was an experience he will never forget. The convicted ex-bikie gang member, who spent five years in a WA prison for assault, has been one of the most talked about players in the tournament in the build up to the 153rd Open Championship, such is the intrigue in his story from media outlets around the planet. But the former New Zealand Open winner who, like Mickelson, is a left-hander, admitted to being desperately disappointed in his opening round, which included eight bogeys and two birdies. When he was asked about the experience of playing with Phil, however, it put a smile on his face. 'It was pretty good. I just asked for his golf ball and got him to sign a golf glove for me after. 'I know everyone is going to look at it and say you take the experience in and stuff like that, but obviously very disappointed with the round. Not what I want. So pretty flat at the moment. Was pretty flat out there as well. I just got beat up out there.
The Age
17-07-2025
- Sport
- The Age
‘I was nervous': Peake speaks about playing with Mickelson
Shooting six over in your first round of a major was not how Australian Ryan Peake saw things panning out on Thursday at Portrush. He jokingly referred to himself as 'Father Christmas', that he just kept giving the golf course mistakes wrapped as presents. But a five-hour walk with six-time major winner Phil Mickelson, who gifted him a golf ball and signed his glove for him was an experience he will never forget. The convicted ex-bikie gang member, who spent five years in a WA prison for assault, has been one of the most talked about players in the tournament in the build up to the 153rd Open Championship, such is the intrigue in his story from media outlets around the planet. But the former New Zealand Open winner who, like Mickelson, is a left-hander, admitted to being desperately disappointed in his opening round, which included eight bogeys and two birdies. When he was asked about the experience of playing with Phil, however, it put a smile on his face. 'It was pretty good. I just asked for his golf ball and got him to sign a golf glove for me after. 'I know everyone is going to look at it and say you take the experience in and stuff like that, but obviously very disappointed with the round. Not what I want. So pretty flat at the moment. Was pretty flat out there as well. I just got beat up out there.
Metro
16-07-2025
- Climate
- Metro
Santa's village in the Arctic Circle is hotter than the UK today
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video If anyone needs a clear example of the existence of climate change, this is it. The town of Rovaniemi in Finland, located within the Arctic Circle, is currently experiencing a heatwave. Finns are flocking to the beach to soak up the sun as temperatures have reached highs of 31°C in the Arctic Circle – very different to its usual status as a festive wonderland. Santa's elves and reindeers will be sweating in Father Christmas's workshop, as the town's Santa Claus Village showed the temperature on a digital display. While the weather will of course be warmer in mid-July compared to the Christmas period, normally northern Finland only reaches up to about 20°C in the summer months. Locals certainly weren't expecting the warm weather, with Rovaniemi resident Toivo Koivu saying:It's pretty good. I like it. It's hot. I don't think it's this hot too often here. 'I was on vacation for a few weeks going down through Europe with Interrail with a few of my buddies and it was very hot and we thought that when we would come back to Finland it would be cooler like normally, but no, it's actually the same weather as down south.' Thermostats hitting 30°C is pretty rare within the Arctic Circle, but the phenomenon is becoming increasingly common. According to a study published in the journal Nature, last summer was exceptionally warm in northern Scandinavia and Finland, breaking the June to August record set in 1937. Finland as a whole is experiencing a heatwave at the moment, with its hottest temperature of the summer so far recorded on Monday at 32.4°C. The country's meteorological office warned the heatwave is expected to continue throughout the rest of the week, although southern areas were drenched by a strong thunderstorm and heavy rain earlier this week. Heatwaves are triggered in Finland when daily average temperatures reach 20°C or the country experiences highs of 27°C. More Trending The bulk of the country, aside from a handful of southern regions, is under a yellow heatwave or wildfire warning, with a few coastal regions facing yellow warnings for high winds. While the UK isn't currently in a heatwave, we have seen three heatwaves practically back-to-back, and generally speaking we see warmer temperatures than Finland as we're closer to the equator. Today, however, The Met Office reckons London is the hottest part of the UK, reaching around 25°C, with the rest of the country in the low 20s. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Is it safe to travel to Iceland right now? Latest advice after volcano erupts MORE: How to make a drought-resistant garden because hosepipe bans aren't going anywhere MORE: Pupils hold 'wearing shorts matters' protest in sweltering heatwave
