Michael Fish, via
Firstly, apparently I left everyone (well my mum at least) with a bit of a cliffhanger last week because I didn't reveal the outcome of the dread suomenkielin testi. Well I was pretty surprised to find I actually got a better mark in this one - viisi (5) - which is the top mark in the Finnish university grading system (0=fail, 1=50%, etc). Although I did still make a couple of stupid mistakes and struggled with partitiivi/akkusitiivi objekttilause (malli: minä kirjoittan bloggin sitten katson televisiota) I pretty much cracked omaslause (to have...) malli: minulla on iso pää; nessesiivi lause (must/to have to) malli: sinun täytyy lukeä tämä bloggi joka päivä;
I suppose I should also say anteeksi for reinforcing the stereotype lots of people have that Finland is cold all year. Before I came across that old chestnut from the days of nil point, I was originally going to write a serious post about the weather and daylight, particularly as Daylight Saving Time just ended. And if you question the advantage of BST in UK (particularly if you are in Scotland) - ask yourself what the hell is the point in Finland, except to synchronise with the rest of Europe? As this article points out (despite getting confused about GMT and UK time) Finland has plenty of light in the summer, and being in the east west half of the GMT+2 timezone (as shown on this map) is naturally half an hour into 'summer time' anyway. That is also (I guess) why the work day here is pushed to the morning - start work by 8am, lunch at 11:30, go home at 4pm. Anyway, for anyone wanting to know about Finland's climate they can always look here and remember Helsinki (on Finland's southern coast) is at the same latitude as Lerwick whilst it's Lapland border with Norway is over 1000km further north. For the record though:
In Helsinki the average July high temperature is actually 22°C (which is only 1º lower than London).
The highest temperature ever recorded in Helsinki is 31.6°C. The highest temperature ever recorded [in Finland] is from July 9, 1914, when 35°C was exceeded in several places (the maximum being 35.9°C in Turku).
The lowest temperature recorded in Helsinki is -34.3°C (1987). The lowest temperature recorded at any weather station in Finland this century is -51.5°C (1999).Now compare that to UK recorded extremes (via Met Office):
Highest: 38.5 °C
Brogdale near Faversham (Kent), 10 August 2003.
Lowest: -27.2 °CBut enough from Michael Fish for now.
Braemar, Aberdeenshire, 10 January 1982 and 11 February 1895.
Altnaharra, Highland, 30 December 1995.
[edited 28.10.08 23:05]
3 comments:
Just thought you might be interested, being recently pre-occupied by weather, that it SNOWED here last night.
Not just in Scotland or on the hills but here in my garden, and apparently in London.
I don’t need to get the sled out but it is still there now (although the sun is shining so it probably will be gone soon)
Of course nobody is ready for snow, it being only October and the gritting men are still cutting the grass!
So the roads and probably the rails are in chaos due to the ice.
But as I said the sun is shining so it is very pretty.
Congratulations on your exam.
The main reason for my post on the GMT/BST/CET issue was that I'd just read some articles blaming the Scots for holding back the rest of the UK.
It seems like madness to try and create a zone and shove a whole country in it. It's obvious, for the UK, that what suits the northwest is no good for the southeast and vice versa.
It would be interesting to see how the issue affects Finland, Norway, and Sweden given their latitude.
Thanks Rune, hope I can keep it up for the next two...
I think you hit most of the pros/cons - what's good for one group (eg. farmers) isn't good for another (eg. commuters).
Having the extremes of light/dark you get at these latitudes, moving the clocks only really helps for a few months of the year.
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