Thousands of tourists are stranded in northern Finland after flights were cancelled due to severe cold - with the temperature falling to -39C on Monday morning.
The extreme cold at Kittila airport - where it also dropped to -37C on Sunday morning after several days of similar frigid weather - is making de-icing of aircraft and other operations difficult, Finland's national public broadcaster Yle reported.
The deep freeze is expected to continue in Kittila, which is located in Finnish Lapland in the sparsely populated north, throughout Monday, before the temperature rises to an expected -12C on Tuesday, according to the Met Office.
Many British tourists who have been stranded due to the extreme cold will be hoping to return to the UK on a scheduled flight from Kittila to London Gatwick on Monday evening.
Finns are generally used to frosty winter temperatures but this year's cold, which has affected wide regions of northern, central and eastern Europe, is more severe than in other years.
Heavy snowfall, high winds and icy roads have made travel difficult in parts of Europe.
In Germany, train passengers were still experiencing long delays and cancellations on Sunday after rail operator Deutsche Bahn shut down all services in the north of the country on Friday due to strong snowfall.
Authorities announced that all schools would remain closed and switch to online classes on Monday in North Rhine-Westphalia, the country's most populous western state, after forecasts of icy roads across the region.
In the Baltic countries of Estonia and Lithuania, drivers were asked to postpone all non-essential travel because of expected blizzards, while neighbouring Latvia issued a snow alert for the west of the country.
