I come from a warm country, where the temperatures go up to +44 degrees Celsius in summer and + 10 in winter (in the northernmost areas). When I was thinking about moving to Finland, it freaked me out like anything. The reason is I heard horrible things about the winter in Finland.
My first day experience:
When I just landed in Helsinki, it was the month of February. If you have read my other blogs, you will know that the time in February is cold but very bright. On my first step in Finland, I was hit by -5 degrees. It was not that bad, right? But when I went to Oulu, it was around -15 degrees with a cold wind. Oh, I will never forget that day!!
My first terrible winter was in November that year. I experienced 24 hours of darkness, and the temperature went below -25 degrees. Honestly, it was not a good experience. A quarter of my leg was under the snow some days, so it was very hard to walk around and go to work. The wind makes it worse as it hits directly on your face.
But life cannot stop because of the weather. You will still have to go to classes and workplaces. So you need to prepare yourself before going out. I learned to get used to it with time.
So how do you keep yourself warm in winter?
- You should consider a lot of layers underneath a very good quality winter jacket. The more layers you wear, the warmer you will feel inside. I usually wear at least 2 or 3 layers if the temperature goes below -10. The colder the temperature gets, the more layers you should consider. For material, wool is the best to wear as it will give you great insulation.
- A head beanie to cover your ears and hair.
- A muffler to cover your nose and neck.
- You should wear snow pants over normal pants. Try to put on as many layers as you can. You will find snow pants in all the supermarkets like Tokmanni, K-city market, Sokos, and all the online shops.
- Do not forget to wear warm gloves. Try to get thick gloves that protect you from snow and water.
- PRO TIP: In case the temperature gets below -20/-25 degrees Celsius, try to wear two layers of gloves. First, wear a soft pair of gloves (pretty cheap in all the shops) and on top of those gloves, wear the thicker gloves. So your hands should be totally protected.
- Wear full socks under your shoes. Wool socks are great to wear, but other than that, you will find thicker socks than normal ones in the superstores. Grab one or two of them.
- Winter shoes are a must. Get good quality winter shoes from the stores (I would recommend Intersport or Budget Sport). If you do not have an idea, then ask the salesperson if you want to buy winter shoes. They will help you. If you are not planning to go skiing, then try to AVOID shoes with spikes (because there are places where you cannot enter with spiked shoes).
There is a popular saying in Finland, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.”
One thing to remember is that these steps are focused especially on people who are coming to Finland for the first time. If you spend one winter here, you will automatically realize how many layers or which setup of clothing will keep you comfortable and warm in a particular temperature. So you can fine-tune it according to your comfort.
Now I would like to mention some other practical issues regarding this winter that will help you to move around:
- The roads will also be covered in snow, so if you have a car, sometimes your car wheels can skid, and you have to be very careful about that.
- As the days are really dark, it is very hard for drivers to detect pedestrians even from a little distance. To make yourself visible to drivers, you should wear a reflector. It is usually not that expensive, but it is a very essential thing in winter.
- If you are from a warm country, try to take a vitamin D capsule. Go to the pharmacy and ask them which vitamin D will be good, and they will tell you details about the usage.
- Go to a Finnish sauna. Sauna is a vital part of Finnish culture. It is also very useful in the winter, so make the best use of it. I will write a separate article about it.
Be careful with Car’s during winter
This is the kind of reflector that you should use. Picture collected from internet.