Water temperature is warming up...

One of the biggest attractions to spending a summer holiday in Finland is the fact that it's possible to swim in what are remarkably warm lakes. As the lakes are relatively shallow (average depth is only around 6 metres) they heat up very quickly in the summer.

When you consider how far north Finland actually is- much of the northern half of the country is within the Arctic Circle- it's quite incredible how warm the water is in the lakes in summer. We have spent three summers in Finland in the last 5 years, and on each occasion, we have been astonished at the warmth of the water we have swum in!


In 2006, we stayed in the south, by Kotka, which is on the Baltic coast. It certainly wasn't warm swimming in the Finnish bay, but when we ventured inland a little and tried a local lake, the water temperature was around 22C! This compares to around 19C for the Mediterranean Sea around Spain in July!
In 2008, we spent our holidays in Varkaus, in eastern Finland, and were told by our hosts that the summer was cooler than normal. Despite that, we found the water again to be around 22- 23C, and quite warm to swim in.

Sandy diving into Lake Lentunen in July 2010.

In 2010, we stayed between Juva and Puumala, in two different cottages. The weather was extremely hot, and the water temperatures were between 27- 29C, which was incredibly warm and so pleasant to swim in!

This year, I'm keeping a close eye on the water temperatures again, and I'm pleased to see that they are warming up well, and are already around 20C!