The newsstand tabloid Ilta-Sanomat reported close to 7000 households were without electricity supplies early this morning as high winds overnight felled trees and cut power lines. Power outages had already been reported in 38 municipalities.
It says that high winds will pose a danger today throughout most of the country. Wind speeds may hit gale-force levels, particularly in Ostrobothnia and Lapland.
The storm, christened "Solomon" is unusual both in duration and intensity, and that winds are blowing out of the northwest.
So far the northern city of Oulu has been in the eye of the storm and not hit by the worst of the storm, but areas to the immediate south and north of Oulu have seen some of the highest winds recorded, says the local daily Kaleva.
It reports that in Lapland emergency services responded to about three dozen calls of wind damage in the areas of Sodankylä, Kittilä and Kolari. Most of the calls involved downed trees that have cut power lines, damaged buildings and cars and in some places blocked roads.
The Tampere-based Aamulehti reported that while the storm has not caused major problems in the Pirkanmaa region, cold sharp winds did stir up some spectacular waves on Lake Näsijärvi that drove boaters from the water. Its online edition offers readers photos and a video of the stormy Wednesday evening lake scene.
Eating wrong
A feature today in Helsingin Sanomat notes that most Finns imagine that they follow healthy diets, but that nutrition therapist Reijo Laatikainen says that they've got it wrong.
He points out that rather that sticking to nutritional recommendations, the vast majority of people don't seem to care enough about healthy eating. They tend to follow the impulse to satisfy cravings for salt and sugar.
Laatikainen points to studies that indicate that only one in five of the Finns follows an even reasonably healthy diet. "On a [health] scale of zero to one hundred, the diet of the average Finn is a 50," he told the paper.
Bad eating habits, according to Laatikainen, are a greater risk to the health of Finns than alcohol, tobacco, drugs or environmental pollution.
Finns do not eat nearly as many vegetables, fruits or berries as recommended. Only around 30% of people eat fish at least twice a week, as recommended. The daily recommendation of nuts and seeds in the diet is 30 grammes. On average, Finns eat only three.
In contrast, Finns consume too much fat, salt and sugar.
Urban ticks
The Turku newspaper Turun Sanomat reports today that potentially disease-carrying ticks are starting to be seen in city parks.
South-west Finland is considered a risk zone for ticks and tick-borne infections. Usually found in more rural areas, researchers now say locals have encountered ticks in wet grassy park areas and in wooded city parklands.
Ticks spread a number of dangerous infections, most notably Lyme disease and encephalitis. The tick population is growing worldwide, including in Finland. Researchers have several theories about why, but climate change is often cited.
A research team at the University of Turku received 1.12 million euros in funding Wednesday for studies on tick-born encephalitis.
Who's getting laid?
The Kuopio-based Savon Sanomat says that the answer to that question is "20 year-old women and 50 year-old men".
Reviewing the Finsex 2015 survey carried out by the Family Federation of Finland, Savon Sanomat notes that both men and women who married in 1971 had sexual intercourse at double the rate of newly-married couples today.
Among the findings listed by the paper are:
- 20 year-old women and 50 year-old men are the most sexual active groups, averaging intercourse 1.5 times a week, as compared to once a week on average for other age groups.
- The frequency of sexual activity has declined over the past 15 years, especially in the 30-40 year-old age group.
- The frequency of sexual activity for couples, both men and women who are married or in long-term relationships has fallen to half of what it was in 1971.
- Fewer people are active. This latest study found that only 39% of men and 33% of women had engaged in sexual intercourse during the week previous to the survey. The sharpest decline was among young men and middle-aged women.
- More than half want more. Some 40% of men and 47% of women in relationships are satisfied with the frequency of sex they engage in. The rest, that is over half of respondents, would like to have more sex, more often.
