Rovaniemi never fails to surprise with me with its weather conditions. I know what you're probably thinking. What did I expect? The arctic circle is a mere 4 miles away, I've crossed it (fyi, I have a boomerang of me doing so, proof). You're also probably thinking just how British I am right now to be writing an entire blog post about the weather, my nationality shines through I suppose. But let me tell you, nothing will ever prepare you for the cold here ever. I've been in Finland for about 6 months now and I thought by now the weather would just bounce off me. Alas, no.
October got chilly. November was pretty cold. December was cold. January was cold. But the first week of February, normally my favourite month of the year; one because it's short and two because it's my birthday month, was the coldest thing I have ever experienced in my entire almost twenty one years of living. When I was home at Christmas everyone that asked me how Finland was must have been so tired at my response which was always something about how cold and dark it was. This is one of the most cliche sentences I will ever write, but you will not understand it until you've experienced it.
This week, although in sunnier climes and with a whole 7 extra minutes of sun meaning a whole 7 more minutes to get vitamin D, it has never felt more cold. Although the temperatures aren't any less or much less than what we had in December, it feels it and going outside in -20 feels like -27 is not the one. Due to recent snowstorms temperatures have dipped with the crisp air making it feel ever colder. The weather app telling me constantly that it will be warmer within the next few days. Alas, I've found myself in constant -20 for the past few days and I've forgotten what it feels like to be able to feel my thighs and see properly on account of my eyelashes freezing.
The cold here is so different to any I've ever experienced before. Rovaniemi isn't a very windy place so thankfully that doesn't make it feel colder like in England. I think Katie's summed it up the best, she likens it to living in a giant freezer. The cold is crisp and clean but you feel it anyway. Especially when cycling or walking anywhere. Katie and I cycled to uni this morning for our 9am start in -22, what felt like -28. My heart sank at having to even leave my apartment and the cycle was the worst. It was so difficult even on flat ground which has never really happened before and I'm not a cycling kind of gal. Purely just because of the cold which is crazy. The three of us walked back from town in -17 which didn't even seem cold, my friend Milo is currently in Karlstad, Sweden where it's, as he put it 'only' -12. I've never wanted -12 so much before now. I might be freezing and I might have lost the feeling in my fingers but it made for some good photos, and it's -14 at the moment and I got 7 hours of daylight today, the daylight continues it's takeover I just wish the sun would warm me up a bit.
