File photo of Ukrainian refugees. Photo: Kevin Bückert

The Finnish Refugee Council will start change negotiations covering 21 employees as the organisation prepares for cuts to state funding. Up to 15 employees face dismissal, while the duties of another six workers could change as part of a restructuring.

The negotiations will begin on 8 October and affect employees whose positions depend on grants from the Funding Centre for Social Welfare and Health Organisations, known as STEA.

Police released a photo of the object found in the sea off Helsinki. Photo: Police

A metal object found floating in a shipping channel off Helsinki triggered a police and coastguard operation that stopped passenger ship traffic for several hours before authorities determined that the object posed no danger.

Finnish police said the object was most likely a mechanical part from an old shipwreck. The Navy confirmed in its initial assessment that the find was not an explosive.

President Alexander Stubb (left) and Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen at a ceremony marking the arrival of the Finnish Air Force’s F-35A Lightning II multirole fighters in Rovaniemi on 1 October 2026. Photo: Markku Ulander / Lehtikuva

Finland has marked the arrival of its first F-35 fighter jets with a ceremony at Rovaniemi, beginning a transition that will replace the Air Force’s Hornet fleet by 2031. President Alexander Stubb said the aircraft would strengthen Finland’s defence and deterrence for decades.

The Finnish Air Force presented the F-35A Lightning II at Lapland Air Wing on Thursday. An F-35 and a Hornet took part in demonstration flights after low cloud initially threatened to keep the aircraft on the ground.

Wind damage expected across almost the entire country today. Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva

Strong autumn winds swept across Finland on Tuesday, cutting electricity to thousands of households and bringing gusts above 20 metres per second to western parts of the country. Forecasters expect colder air to follow the storm, while another low-pressure system is due later this week.

More than 5,000 households were without electricity at around 11am, according to an electricity outage map maintained by Finnish Energy. The Ostrobothnia rescue service had received 12 damage-prevention assignments by that point.

File photo of a Wolt courier in Helsinki. Photo: Antti Hämäläinen / Lehtikuva

McDonald’s has opened a heated waiting room for Wolt couriers at its Autotalo restaurant in central Helsinki, giving delivery riders a place to sit and charge their phones between orders, Helsingin Sanomat reports.

The room, near Kamppi, includes heating, a bench, a collection counter and an electrical socket. It does not have a toilet. Couriers interviewed by HS said the space becomes useful when they face longer waits between deliveries or work during cold weather.

High pressure will keep southern and western Finland warm, with temperatures reaching 17–18 °C through Friday. Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva

Finland is heading towards colder and wetter weather after a slow start to autumn, raising the risk of icy roads across a growing part of the country. Foreca expects temperatures to fall during the coming week, while overnight frost, fog and moisture on roads are set to create more difficult conditions for drivers.

High pressure will keep conditions warm in parts of southern and western Finland for another couple of days. Temperatures could reach 17–18 °C in the south-west on Thursday and in southern and western areas on Friday, according to Foreca.

Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva

The share of young boys starting ADHD medication in Finland has more than doubled since 2017, with use remaining above comparable levels in Sweden and Norway, according to data published by Finland’s Social Insurance Institution, Kela.

In 2025, 3.1% of boys aged six to eight started ADHD medication, up from 2.9% in 2024 and 1.4% in 2017.

The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal building, photographed on 25 August 2026. Photo: Lasse Keskinen / Wikimedia Commons

The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal has increased the prison sentence of a British man convicted of attempting to murder a Finnish woman in Joensuu after travelling from Britain and monitoring her movements for several days.

Satinder Minhas, 32, received a sentence of six and a half years, one year longer than the term imposed by North Karelia District Court in January. The appeal court also increased the compensation payable to the victim.

Household purchasing power recovers unevenly: falling for low-income households, rising for high-income households. Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva

Finland’s household purchasing power is moving in different directions across income groups, with the lowest earners losing ground while incomes at the top support spending power, according to new data from Labore.

The Labour Institute for Economic Research estimates that purchasing power among the lowest-income tenth of households will fall 3.5 per cent in 2026. The highest-income tenth is set to record a 2.2 per cent increase.