Levi road conditions and road cameras: driving to Levi in winter

Situation at 9 October 2026, 15:18 Finnish time: road surface 4.4 °C, air 1.6 °C at the nearest road weather station (Tie 9401 Ylläs, maisematie); normal driving conditions on the nearest main-road sections by Fintraffic’s classification, normal in twelve hours; no snow on the ground at FMI’s Kittilä Pakatti gauge; 7 road cameras within 50 km.

Levi is in Sirkka village at the foot of Levitunturi, on Highway 79 between Rovaniemi and Muonio. The road from Rovaniemi is the busiest in Lapland during the Finnish school holidays (weeks 8 to 10) and is on the reindeer herders’ list of the worst roads for reindeer collisions; Kittilä airport is fifteen minutes away.

Getting there: the drive to Levi

From	Distance	Driving time, no stops
Helsinki	994 km	12 h 50 min
Rovaniemi	169 km	2 h 05 min

Routing-engine times on dry roads; in winter, with stops, allow a good deal more. Nearest airport: Kittilä (KTT), 15 km. Car train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi (then 170 km) or to Kolari (then 80 km).

Road cameras on the way to Levi

Valtatie 21

Tie 21 Muonio

Road camera Muonio — Frame at 15:08 · 4 views on the station page

Kantatie 79

Tie 79 Kittilä, Lentoasema

Road camera Kittilä, Lentoasema — Frame at 15:10 · 3 views on the station page

Tie 79 Muonio, Äkäsjärvi

Road camera Muonio, Äkäsjärvi — Frame at 15:09 · 4 views on the station page

Kantatie 80

Tie 80 Kittilä, Tepsa

Road camera Kittilä, Tepsa — Frame at 15:10 · 3 views on the station page

Tie 940

Tie 940 Kolari, Äkäslompolo

Road camera Kolari, Äkäslompolo — Frame at 15:11 · 5 views on the station page

Tie 957

Tie 957 Kittilä, Raattama

Road camera Kittilä, Raattama — Frame at 15:12 · 3 views on the station page

Tie 9401

Tie 9401 Kolari, Ylläs maisematie

Road camera Kolari, Ylläs maisematie — Frame at 15:10 · 6 views on the station page

Images Fintraffic / digitraffic.fi, CC BY 4.0, refreshed about every ten minutes; the time is the frame’s own. A station’s page (in Finnish) has every view and the last 24 hours.

Road surface and air temperature: the nearest road weather stations

Station	Road surface	Air	Dew point	Wind	Read at
Tie 9401 Ylläs, maisematie	4.4 °C	1.6 °C	-1.9 °C	2 m/s, gusts 7	15:17

A road surface at or below 0 °C with the dew point within a degree is where hoarfrost and black ice form; the Finnish station table also carries Fintraffic’s surface word and friction.

Snow and the forecast

FMI’s nearest snow gauge, Kittilä Pakatti (16 km away), reads 0 cm at 15:00. The first lasting snow cover typically arrives at the nearest reference station (Kittilä Pokka) on 9.10. (1991–2020). The slopes are a different matter – the resort reports its own snow.

No FMI traffic weather, wind, rain, cold or pedestrian-safety warnings for the region right now.

Reindeer on the road

Levi is in the reindeer herding area: reindeer can be on the road at any hour, most collisions happen in November, December and January, and 4,611 reindeer were hit by cars in Finland in 2025. Lift off the accelerator when you see one – there are usually more – and after a collision always call 112, even if the animal runs off.

Winter tyres

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. Rental cars in Lapland come on winter tyres, usually studded. The full rule, speed limits and the car train.

When the roads are busiest

Finnish school holidays 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. Outbound traffic runs Friday evening and Saturday, the return the following weekend; the week before Christmas is the other peak.

Other Lapland destinations

Rovaniemi – the capital of Lapland, the Arctic Circle and Santa Claus Village
Ruka – the ski resort north of Kuusamo, with Finland’s longest season
Ylläs – Finland’s largest ski area, between the villages of Äkäslompolo and Ylläsjärvi in Kolari
Saariselkä – the northernmost ski resort in Finland, in Inari, 260 km north of Rovaniemi
Kilpisjärvi – the fell village at the end of Highway 21 on the Norwegian border, below Saana

The same place in Finnish, with every camera view, the forecast section by section and the station table: Levi.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the drive from Rovaniemi to Levi?

About 170 km on Highway 79 through Kittilä, two to two and a half hours in winter. From Helsinki it is just under 1 000 km, which most people split with the car train to Rovaniemi or Kolari.

Sources

Traffic data: Fintraffic / digitraffic.fi, licence CC 4.0 BY (cameras, road weather stations, road condition classes).
Snow depth and warnings: Finnish Meteorological Institute, open data, CC BY 4.0.
Distances: openrouteservice / rome2rio, driving without stops; school holidays: Finnish National Agency for Education.
Reindeer: Reindeer Herders’ Association (Paliskuntain yhdistys), 2025.