‘Devastating’: Christmas in Lapland is cancelled after trips called off due to lack of snow

11.12.2024 - 00:33 / euronews.com / Joanna Bailey

For some unlucky travellers, Christmas has been abruptly cancelled. 

Huge German holiday firm TUI has begun scrapping some of its wildly popular Lapland trips as an essential element is missing: snow.

Towns like Rovaniemi, the ‘official home of Santa’, have experienced unseasonably mild conditions over the past few weeks. Rather than the typical 20-30cm of snow on the ground, November saw no more than a couple of centimetres in isolated patches, with most of the region devoid of the white stuff entirely.

On 3 and 4 December 2024, TUI cancelled several trips to Kuusamo in Finnish Lapland due to a lack of snow. Heavy rainfall in the area washed away what little snow remained, making it impossible to undertake many of the wintry excursions planned for visitors.

In a statement released on Tuesday 4 December, the travel company said,

“We’ve been closely monitoring the weather forecast in Kuusamo. Unfortunately, there has been heavy rainfall today and what snow there was, has washed away.

“This means that, regretfully, it won’t be possible to operate the magical Lapland experience we had planned for you, including tasters and pre-booked excursions. We understand how devastating this news will be, and we are really sorry to have reached this outcome.”

Affected guests have been offered the option to change their travel dates, including to next winter, at no additional cost, to rebook onto another holiday with a 10 per cent discount, or to get a full refund for their trip.

Other travel agents are monitoring the weather closely, and some areas are using snow cannons to ensure their visitors have the magical winter experience they planned. 

A few decades ago, travelling to Lapland to visit Santa was something kids could only dream about. But today, thanks to hundreds of new air connections to European countries, a magical visit to the real home of St. Nick is just a ticket away.

Finnavia, the operator of Finnish airports, noted that last year over 1.5 million visitors arrived in Finnish Lapland, 20 per cent more than the previous year. In November and December alone, Rovaniemi, Kittilä, Ivalo, Kuusamo, and Kemi-Tornio airports saw 547,773 passengers pass through.

As well as Finland, Swedish Lapland has seen record visitor numbers in recent years. In the county of Norrbotten, home to Lapland, winter tourism increased by 9 per cent in 2023, with the town of Kiruna - home to the famous ICEHOTEL - seeing 50,000 more guest nights compared with the previous year.

Many visitors arrive anticipating days of chilly fun - dog sleds, snowmobiling, reindeer safaris. With little to no snow in some areas, activities like this become impossible. Even the reindeer are struggling to retrieve their favourite food, lichen, from beneath layers