Winter Wonderland

Nothing symbolises winter more than snow. At 66 degrees longitude, the woodland fells of the Riisitunturi National Park, in Finnish Lapland, are almost guaranteed deep and prolonged snowfall in the winter months. Indeed, Lapland is the quintessential winter wonderland – so much so that the tourist board in neighbouring Rovaniemi has designated it to be the residence of Father Christmas himself. These two photographs show the landscape coated in fresh snow in the glow of an arctic twilight. Even at this far north, one wonders how long snow will continue to fall: In 2020, for the first time since records began, Helsinki had no snow by February.