Global warming has left the ‘official’ hometown of Santa Claus without snow in the run up Christmas.
By late November, Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland is normally covered in blankets of white snow.
But as greenhouse gas emissions warm the planet, it has instead been soaked with rain with temperatures hovering around 2C.
‘My reindeer can fly, so that’s no problem,’ said the man in the red suit and long white beard, resting his weary legs after a long day of meeting excited children and adults.
But ‘we can see that climate change is real. And it’s affecting the reindeer. It’s affecting life here in the Arctic.’
‘It’s super nice. It’s like in the Christmas movies, super magical,’ said Maria Batista Torres from Tenerife in Spain, visiting the village with her two young children.
Glittering fairy lights illuminate rooftops and trees in the Santa Claus Village, which is open all year round.
‘I figured it would be much more snowy,’ said Wenguel, a visitor from the United States.
‘I mean, it still feels like Christmas… but I figured it would be a little bit more Santa-like.’
In addition to meeting Santa, visitors can pay to go snowmobiling or jump on a reindeer sleigh-ride.
Gloomy skies aside, Santa’s Post Office was bustling with activity, as red-hooded elves busily stamped cards and sorted piles of letters in the Christmas rush.
‘In December there can be about 30,000 letters each day,’ said postal elf Heidi Mustonen, who has worked here for 20 years.
Over half a million letters to Santa find their way here every year, Heidi said, insisting that every letter gets opened and read thoroughly.
Most of the letters were wish lists, but both children and adults also wrote to tell Santa about their personal concerns, fears, wishes and joys, with many of the envelopes containing drawings and small gifts.
‘This year many people have wished for peace,’ Heidi said.
Most letters sent from Asian countries were written by young adults, with many wishing for strength to cope with their studies, she said.
Letters from European countries were meanwhile mostly written by children.
Heidi said she loved the warm and happy atmosphere in Santa’s village, but did wish for snowfall to brighten up the landscape.
‘We would make snow everywhere if we could. But we are just postal elves.’
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