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Lapland breaks cancelled as rain washes snow away

Transun, Inghams and Newmarket Holidays had to cancel festive breaks in Lapland over the weekend because a downpour had washed away the snow in resorts.

However, a statement from Inghams on Monday said the Finnish resorts of Levi and Yllas had seen snowfall over the past weekend, and there is currently a good covering of snow in Saariselka.

“Temperatures are set to drop, and more snow is predicted today and over the coming week. As such, we expect all departures from December 5 onwards to go ahead as planned,” said Inghams.

Transun said in a statement: “Having looked at a number of reasonably reliable weather forecasts, we plan to resume our full Lapland operations from Friday December 7, by which time we hope to have a decent snowfall and low temperatures, and topped up by snow from cannons if necessary.”

Newmarket had cancelled the weekend’s departures to Swedish Lapland five days in advance, based on “a lack of snow and a poor forecast”.

It added: “As there is currently snow on the ground in Pajala and the forecast is for snow all week this weekend’s departures are planned to go ahead as scheduled.”

Inghams decided on Saturday to cancel or rebook passengers on its three-night Santa Break departures travelling to Yllas and Levi, departing on December 2.

“This was as a result of considerable rainfall on Friday night that washed away the accumulated snow of the last week, impacting our snow-based activities,” it said in a statement.

“A team of 25 was drawn together over the weekend in the Inghams head office in Godalming to contact all affected families and offer the chance to transfer their booking to a later date or a full cancellation and refund of their holiday.

“The office was open until 7.30pm on Saturday and reopened at 3am on Sunday, 2nd December to assist all guests.

“The team made contact with guests by phone, and followed up by email and text. Where guests had booked via a travel agent, the team was in contact with the agents, who we thank for working hard to contact their customers.

“We continue to liaise with our agents and guests to try and work through the disappointment the adverse weather has caused and we thank our guests, travel agents, airlines and in-resort partners for their patience and understanding.

“With snow now having fallen again on Sunday and today, and an improving weather outlook for the week ahead, we do not envisage further cancellations.”

Transun cancelled day trips and short breaks that had been due to depart on December 2-3, because rain in the Enontekio region had washed the snow away.

“Despite having operated in Lapland for 30 years, we have never experienced rain like this in December before,” Transun said in a statement.

Transun said it will refund affected passengers or offer an alternative date.

Transun’s statement highlighted the fact that it has been seeing an unseasonably mild winter so far with limited snowfall.

“With this in mind, we have been creating snow using snow cannons, which pumps water into the sky and then forms snow as it freezes in the air,” said Transun.

“We have been using this to create tracks and trails on which to run snowmobiles, huskies and reindeer sleighs – some on paths through forests and some across frozen lakes and rivers.”

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