Driving in Finland in Winter: Road Conditions, the Winter Tyre Law, Reindeer and Lapland Road Cameras

Difficult driving conditions on main roads in 2 regions: Kainuu, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa. Situation at 9 October 2026, 14:48 Finnish time.

This is the page for a driver who is not Finnish: what the roads are doing right now in each of Finland’s 18 regions, what the law actually says about winter tyres (it is a condition, not the 1 December date the AI summaries print), what changes at the end of October, and why every road north of Rovaniemi is reindeer country. The detail – 810 road cameras, every road and every municipality – lives on the Finnish pages, linked from each section; those pages are in Finnish, but a camera frame and a temperature need no translation.

Road conditions by region right now

Fintraffic classifies the main roads in three steps – normal, difficult, very difficult – every five minutes, with a forecast twelve hours out; the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s traffic weather warning has four colours. Each region’s page (in Finnish) shows its cameras road by road.

Winter tyres: the rule as the law words it

In Finland the winter tyre requirement is a condition, not a date. Under section 105 of the Road Traffic Act, winter tyres must be used in November, December, January, February and March if the weather or the road conditions require it – on cars, vans, motorcycles, mopeds and their trailers over 750 kg. There is no fixed compulsory period: a dry November does not require winter tyres, a snowy April calls for studs or friction tyres and the law does not stand in the way. The main tread grooves must be at least 3.0 mm deep, and breaking the rule costs a 100 euro traffic penalty fee.

If the weather or road conditions so require, winter tyres whose main tread grooves are at least 3.0 millimetres deep must be used during November, December, January, February and March.

Today, 9 October 2026, is outside the winter tyre months: the law requires winter tyres only from November to March, and then only if the weather or road conditions call for them.

Studded tyres

Studded tyres may be used from the beginning of November to the end of March, and at other times if the weather or road conditions require it. In spring 2027 the calendar period ends on Wednesday 31 March; in April studs are legal only when conditions call for them, and the judgement is the driver’s. Studs must be fitted to all wheels of a car or van, and the number of studs may not differ between tyres so as to cause danger – by at most 25 per cent of the tyre with the most studs. There has been no Easter rule since 1 June 2020: the old decree allowed studs until the Monday after Easter Monday, the current section 106 of the Road Traffic Act does not mention Easter. In Helsinki, driving on studded tyres is prohibited on one street, Lönnrotinkatu between Mannerheimintie and Hietalahdenkatu, until spring 2028; the city lists no other. Finland has no studded tyre fee.

What counts as a winter tyre

A winter tyre is a studded tyre or a studless winter tyre approved for severe snow conditions and marked with the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol (3PMSF), or a POR-marked off-road tyre. For cars and vans the snowflake marking has been compulsory since 1 December 2024: an M+S marking alone is no longer enough. An ice-grip marking is not required. Winter tyres need at least 3.0 mm of tread; Traficom recommends at least 5 mm in snow and slush. Summer tyres and tyres used at other times need at least 1.6 mm (motorcycles 1.0 mm).

The law makes no exemption for rental cars: section 105 binds the driver whoever owns the vehicle. Breaking the winter tyre rules (sections 104–106) brings the driver a traffic penalty fee of 100 euros; for a moped rider 40 euros. The traffic penalty fee is an administrative charge, not a fine, and replaced the summary penal fee on 1 June 2020.

Winter speed limits

Finland lowers its speed limits for the winter and the dark season by the end of October: 100 to 80 km/h on main roads, 120 to 100 km/h on motorways, some stretches from 80 to 70. The exact day is decided by each regional authority; in autumn 2025 the main day was 29 October, and summer speeds came back from 1 April 2026 in the south and 8 April in the north. Outside built-up areas the default is 80 km/h and inside them 50 km/h. On motorways with variable signs the sign always wins. The Finnish page with this season’s dates and the signs right now.

Reindeer, moose and deer

The reindeer herding area is all of Lapland except Kemi, Keminmaa and Tornio, plus Kuusamo, Taivalkoski, Pudasjärvi, Suomussalmi and Hyrynsalmi. Reindeer are semi-domesticated, walk on the ploughed road because it is easier than the snow, and do not move for a car. In 2025 4,611 were hit by cars, most in November, December and January. The worst roads by the herders’ own count: vt 20 Panumanjärvi–Taivalkoski; vt 5 Kuusamo–Ruka; kt 82 Vikajärvi–Kemijärvi; vt 4 Rovaniemi–Sodankylä; kt 79 Rovaniemi–Kittilä; vt 21 Kihlanki–Muonio; vt 4 Vuotso–Ivalo. After any collision with a reindeer, moose or deer call 112 – it is an offence not to – even if the animal runs off. Finland had 13,291 wildlife collisions in 2025, most in November and most in the hour after sunset. Today’s sunset by city and the live animal warnings.

When the snow comes

The first lasting snow cover arrives, on the 1991–2020 average, in Kittilä on 9 October, Rovaniemi on 21 October, Kuusamo on 19 October, Jyväskylä on 27 October, Turku on 9 November and Helsinki on 18 November. Lapland’s main roads are then driven on packed snow until April: below about −7 °C salt no longer works, so the surface stays white and studded tyres are the norm. Snow depth right now, station by station and resort by resort.

The car train and the school holidays

Overnight car-carrier trains run from Helsinki (and Turku and Tampere) to Rovaniemi and to Kolari, the northernmost station, 35 km from Ylläs and 80 km from Levi: you sleep, the car rides, and you start the drive to the fells in the morning. The roads north are busiest in the Finnish school holidays of 2027: week 8 (22.–26.2.2027) Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Turku, Pori; week 9 (1.–5.3.2027) Tampere, Jyväskylä, Lahti, Hämeenlinna, Kouvola, Kotka, Lappeenranta, Mikkeli, Seinäjoki, Vaasa, Kokkola; week 10 (8.–12.3.2027) Oulu, Kuopio, Joensuu, Rovaniemi, Kajaani – and in the week before Christmas.

Lapland destinations: road cameras and conditions

Every camera in Finland, by region and municipality (in Finnish): Kelikamerat.

Frequently asked questions

Are winter tyres mandatory in Finland?

From November to March, if the weather or road conditions require them – which in practice they do across the country from the first snow. Minimum tread 3.0 mm, snowflake (3PMSF) marking for cars since December 2024, 100 euro penalty. Studded tyres are allowed from 1 November to 31 March and after that when conditions call for them; there is no Easter rule any more.

Can I drive a rental car from Rovaniemi to Norway?

Most Finnish rental companies allow Norway and Sweden; check the contract. The roads – E8 to Tromsø over Kilpisjärvi, E75 to the Arctic Ocean over Utsjoki, E45 to Alta over Kivilompolo – are open all winter, with the Norwegian side sometimes run as a convoy in storms.

Is it dark all day in Lapland in winter?

In Rovaniemi the sun stays below the horizon only a few days around Christmas and there is daylight at midday; in Saariselkä and Kilpisjärvi the polar night runs from late November to mid January with a few hours of blue twilight. Roads through villages are lit; the long stretches between are not.

Sources

• Traffic data: Fintraffic / digitraffic.fi, licence CC 4.0 BY (road condition classes, weather stations, cameras).
• Warnings and snow depth: Finnish Meteorological Institute, open data, CC BY 4.0.
• Road Traffic Act 729/2018, sections 105 and 106 (Finlex); Traficom on summer and winter tyres.
• Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (Väylävirasto): winter and dark-season speed limits.
• Reindeer Herders’ Association (Paliskuntain yhdistys), traffic accidents 2025; Statistics Finland, wildlife accidents 2025.