Summer 2026 Across the Nordic Region: Arctic Heat and Atlantic Rains

Data Analysis
WMO Climate
WMO Normals
Summer 2026 temperature and rainfall at 47 Nordic stations compared with their 1991–2020 normals, using WMO Climate observations.
Author

Climate Explorer Team

Published

October 4, 2026

Summer 2026 was warmer than normal at most Nordic weather stations, but not everywhere. Of 47 stations in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland, 39 had a June–August mean above their own 1991–2020 normal. The largest departures, +1.1°C to +1.3°C, were in the far north: Inari-Nellim, Vardø, Utsjoki-Kevo and Karasjok. The eight stations below normal were all within 0.4°C of it, most of them on Norway’s Atlantic coast and in south-west Iceland.

Rainfall did not follow a simple north–south line. The wettest stations, at up to 173% of normal, were around the Gulf of Bothnia, in Lapland, at Bodø and in western Iceland. The driest were in Denmark and on Norway’s southern coast, at 69% to 78% of normal.

Each station is compared with its own 1991–2020 normal, so the figures describe named sites, not whole countries. Observations come from monthly reports in WMO Climate and are still provisional.

Lollipop chart of June–August 2026 temperature departures at eight Nordic stations. Inari-Nellim and Vardø are +1.3°C, Stockholm +0.9°C, Copenhagen +0.7°C, Oslo +0.6°C, Helsinki +0.3°C, Reykjavík −0.1°C and Bergen −0.3°C.

Far-northern stations were 1.3°C above their 1991–2020 summer normal, while Reykjavík and Bergen finished slightly below. Eight of 47 stations shown; the full comparison follows below. Observations are provisional.

The far north was warmest; the Atlantic coast stayed near normal

The four warmest stations were all well north of the Arctic Circle: Inari-Nellim (WMO ID 02835, +1.3°C), Vardø (01098, +1.3°C), Utsjoki-Kevo (02805, +1.2°C) and Karasjok (01065, +1.1°C). Stockholm (02484, +0.9°C), Copenhagen (06186, +0.7°C) and Oslo (01492, +0.6°C) were also clearly above normal.

Eight stations finished slightly below normal. Four are on Norway’s Atlantic coast: Bergen (01317, −0.3°C), Utsira Fyr (01403, −0.3°C), Trondheim Airport (01271, −0.2°C) and Ørland (01241, 0.0°C). Two are in south-west Iceland: Reykjavík (04030, −0.1°C) and Keflavík (04018, 0.0°C). The other two, Gunnarn (02126, −0.2°C) and Kvikkjokk (02119, −0.1°C), are inland in northern Sweden, so being below normal was not only a coastal pattern.

Lollipop chart of June–August 2026 temperature departures at 47 Nordic stations. Departures range from +1.3°C at Inari-Nellim and Vardø to −0.3°C at Utsira Fyr and Bergen; 39 stations are above normal.

All 47 stations, ordered by their June–August 2026 departure from the 1991–2020 normal. 39 were above normal; none of the eight below normal was more than 0.4°C below. Observed and normal summer means use month-length weights; observations are provisional.

Wet around the Gulf of Bothnia, dry in Denmark and southern Norway

Of the 46 stations with a rainfall normal, 29 received at least their normal summer total. The wettest were Haparanda in northern Sweden (02197, 173%, 289 mm), Stykkishólmur in western Iceland (04013, 163%, 190 mm), Ylitornio-Meltosjärvi in Finnish Lapland (02812, 159%, 327 mm), Reykjavík (156%) and Bodø (01152, 152%). Bergen recorded the largest total, 585 mm, which was 118% of its normal.

The driest stations were in Denmark and along Norway’s southern coast. Bornholms Lufthavn (06190) received 69% of normal, Stavanger/Sola (01415) 74%, Aalborg Airport (06030) 74%, Torungen Fyr (01465) 77% and Copenhagen 78%. So western Norway was split: Bergen was wet, while Stavanger, about 170 km to the south, was dry.

Bar chart of June–August 2026 rainfall as a percentage of 1991–2020 normal at 46 Nordic stations. Haparanda is highest at 173%; Bornholms Lufthavn is lowest at 69%, with Stavanger, Aalborg, Torungen and Copenhagen between 74% and 78%.

Rainfall as a share of each station’s 1991–2020 summer normal. The wettest stations were around the Gulf of Bothnia, in Lapland and in western Iceland (up to 173%); the driest were in Denmark and on Norway’s southern coast (69% to 78%). Stockholm is omitted because it has no matching rainfall normal; observations are provisional.

June made the summer warm

The monthly figures show where the seasonal warmth came from. June was above normal at all 47 stations, by +0.5°C to +3.0°C, including +2.8°C at Karasjok and Utsjoki-Kevo, +2.3°C at Stockholm and +2.1°C at Copenhagen.

July and August were different. July was below normal at 35 of the 47 stations and August at 34. At Bergen, a June departure of +0.8°C was followed by −0.7°C in July and −1.1°C in August. Only five stations were above normal in all three months: the four far-northern stations above and Oslo-Gardermoen (01384). For most stations, a warm June outweighed a slightly cool July and August.

Heatmap of June, July and August 2026 temperature departures at 47 Nordic stations. Every June cell is positive (+0.5°C to +3.0°C). Most July and August cells are slightly negative; Bergen reaches −1.1°C in August.

June was warmer than normal at all 47 stations. In July and August most stations were slightly below normal; only Inari-Nellim, Vardø, Utsjoki-Kevo, Karasjok and Oslo-Gardermoen stayed above normal in all three months. Cells show monthly mean departures in °C; observations are provisional.

Monthly means cannot show what caused these patterns, or how many hot or wet days there were. Explaining them would need daily data and analysis of weather patterns, which this comparison does not include.

How the comparison was made

The comparison uses 47 stations: Norway 13, Sweden 9, Finland 19, Iceland 3 and Denmark 3. All 47 are used for temperature. Stockholm (02484) is left out of the rainfall comparison because it has no matching 1991–2020 rainfall normal, so the rainfall figures cover 46 stations.

Observations are the June, July and August 2026 monthly mean temperatures and rainfall totals from WMO Climate, the archive of monthly CLIMAT reports exchanged through the World Meteorological Organization. Recent months are provisional and may still be revised by national weather services.

For Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, each station is compared with its own official WMO 1991–2020 climate normal, matched by the same WMO station ID (NOAA NCEI accession 0253808, version 2.2, minimum-24-year composites). Denmark’s three stations have no matching normal under the same ID in that collection. For them, 1991–2020 normals were calculated from each station’s own WMO Climate monthly series, following the completeness rules in WMO-No. 1203. Temperature had all 30 years. Rainfall at Bornholms Lufthavn had 24 years for each summer month, the minimum the rules allow.

Summer temperatures are weighted by the number of days in each month (30, 31 and 31) for both observations and normals. Rainfall totals are the sum of the three months, divided by the sum of the three monthly normals.

Explore the inputs: In the WMO Climate Explorer, select Norway → Oslo (01492) or Finland → Sodankylä (02836), open Dashboard → Data, and look at MeanTemp and Precipitation for June–August 2026. In the WMO Normals Explorer, select Norway → OSLO_BLINDERN to see the 1991–2020 normals. Denmark’s calculated normals are not in the Normals Explorer; they are in the monthly CSV below. The WMO Climate guide and WMO Normals guide explain how to select stations and export data.

Period covered: 1 June–31 August 2026. Provisional monthly reports, checked against the source snapshot of 4 October 2026.

Data Annex

Download the seasonal comparison, monthly observations and normals, and station crosswalk. Temperature departures are rounded to one decimal place and rainfall percentages to whole numbers.

Representative sample of Summer 2026 Nordic station observations against 1991–2020 normals. Stockholm has no matching precipitation normal in the composite.
Station Country Mean °C Normal °C Departure °C Rain mm Normal rain mm Rain % of normal
Inari-Nellim Finland 13.5 12.2 +1.3 188 202.0 93
Vardø Norway 10.3 9.1 +1.3 133 156.2 85
Utsjoki-Kevo Finland 12.7 11.5 +1.2 251 188.6 133
Karasjok Norway 12.7 11.6 +1.1 248 178.2 139
Stockholm / Observatoriet Sweden 18.2 17.4 +0.9 152 — —
Copenhagen Denmark 18.2 17.5 +0.7 152 194.8 78
Oslo Norway 17.1 16.5 +0.6 230 269.2 85
Karesuando Sweden 12.3 11.8 +0.5 219 192.6 114
Sodankylä Finland 13.5 13.1 +0.4 208 192.1 108
Helsinki / Kaisaniemi Finland 17.0 16.7 +0.3 198 198.6 100
Reykjavík Iceland 10.7 10.8 -0.1 246 157.7 156
Bergen Norway 14.5 14.9 -0.3 585 497.7 118
Monthly mean temperature departures from 1991–2020 monthly normals across June, July, and August 2026.
Station Country June °C July °C August °C
Inari-Nellim Finland +2.8 +0.8 +0.4
Vardø Norway +1.7 +1.7 +0.4
Utsjoki-Kevo Finland +2.8 +0.6 +0.3
Karasjok Norway +2.8 +0.4 +0.2
Stockholm / Observatoriet Sweden +2.3 -0.2 +0.5
Copenhagen Denmark +2.1 +0.5 -0.4
Oslo Norway +1.4 +0.8 -0.3
Karesuando Sweden +1.9 -0.5 +0.1
Sodankylä Finland +1.2 -0.1 0.0
Helsinki / Kaisaniemi Finland +1.5 -0.3 -0.2
Reykjavík Iceland +0.8 -0.7 -0.4
Bergen Norway +0.8 -0.7 -1.1
Station metadata and baseline normal calculation provenance. Negative longitude indicates west.
Station Country Provider WMO ID WIGOS ID Latitude °N Longitude °E Elevation m Baseline Source
Inari-Nellim Finland 02835 0-20000-0-02835 68.85 28.30 123 WMO 1991–2020 Normals (NCEI)
Vardø Norway 01098 0-20000-0-01098 70.37 31.10 15 WMO 1991–2020 Normals (NCEI)
Utsjoki-Kevo Finland 02805 0-20000-0-02805 69.76 27.02 107 WMO 1991–2020 Normals (NCEI)
Karasjok Norway 01065 0-20000-0-01065 69.46 25.50 131 WMO 1991–2020 Normals (NCEI)
Stockholm / Observatoriet Sweden 02484 0-20000-0-02484 59.35 18.07 44 WMO 1991–2020 Normals (TAVG only; PRCP omitted)
Copenhagen Denmark 06186 0-208-0-06186 55.69 12.54 9 Calculated 1991–2020 Baseline (WMO-No. 1203)
Oslo Norway 01492 0-20000-0-01492 59.94 10.72 97 WMO 1991–2020 Normals (NCEI)
Karesuando Sweden 02081 0-20000-0-02081 68.44 22.44 332 WMO 1991–2020 Normals (NCEI)
Sodankylä Finland 02836 0-20000-0-02836 67.37 26.63 179 WMO 1991–2020 Normals (NCEI)
Helsinki / Kaisaniemi Finland 02978 0-20000-0-02978 60.18 24.94 4 WMO 1991–2020 Normals (NCEI)
Reykjavík Iceland 04030 0-20000-0-04030 64.13 -21.90 61 WMO 1991–2020 Normals (NCEI)
Bergen Norway 01317 0-20000-0-01317 60.38 5.33 36 WMO 1991–2020 Normals (NCEI)

Data Sources