Dress warm for the Lapland winter

The eight Lappish seasons make clothing choices an interesting challenge in Salla. Dressing for warm or mild weather is a breeze, but when it starts to freeze, a few guidelines are worth remembering. See more below.

In the village of Naruska in Salla, temperatures as low as -50 °C have been recorded. Not to worry though; it isn’t the norm in Salla’s winters. See more about Salla’s Seasons and natural phenomena here.

Keep in mind when dressing for the cold

• It’s all about the layers. Start with a quality thermal base layer against your skin and thermal socks. When it’s really cold, -20 °C or below, wear an additional fleece or thermal layer on top of the base layer, as well as woolly socks. Natural fibres like wool are a good choice for the winter in Salla.
• Note that your clothes need to be loose enough to leave room for air between the layers. It is the air that heats up and keeps you warm; loose clothes are warmer than tight ones.
• Wear pants with a thermal lining and remember that they, too, need to be a loose fit. Lace your winter boots all the way up and pull your pant legs over the boots. Your toes need room to move inside the boots to keep warm.
• It’s important to seal your neck, wrists and ankles carefully. A tube scarf, neck warmer or scarf should be wrapped on before you put on your jacket. The same goes for gloves provided they fit through the jacket sleeves. Prefer mittens over gloves in cold weather to leave room to move your fingers.
• Last, but definitely not least, a warm hat is very important: about 80% of your body heat leaves through the head, making good headwear worth its weight in gold.

Remember these with kids

• Remember to regularly check kids’ fingers and toes, as little ones might not know how to announce in time that they are freezing.
• Both kids and adults will do well to keep in mind that motion keeps warm, and moving about is much more fun than standing still!

See below Visit Finland’s video on how to dress for winter.