A stable high-pressure system, currently keeping the region's weather cold, has not been seen in winter for the past decade. This is the winter counterpart to the days of blazing hot sunshine in summer, as a high often blocks any approaching lows and the rain they can bring. However, while there has been plenty of sunshine in recent days, temperatures have been low, and bodies of water are freezing over quickly.

"Winter will continue for now, very likely throughout the whole of February. The end of the month is uncertain — we may see a thaw then, for the first time in a long while," Environment Agency meteorologist Kertu Sild.

While sea ice has formed up and has already wreaked havoc with ferries to Estonia's islands, there is more to come, Sild added. "There is already ice in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland and it is slowly moving toward Tallinn. Since the Väinameri is fairly shallow on the western side, ice always forms there first. You still shouldn't venture too far out onto the open sea, but yes, the ice is thickening day by day."

The fact that seawater, as well as freshwater bodies, has already frozen in places shows how bitter the winter has been. Those out hiking have taken advantage of the freeze too – for instance you can currently walk from the tip of Rohuneeme, just east of Tallinn, to the island of Aegna. This is a 10-kilometer round-trip, but requires wrapping up warm as it exposed and windy.

The conditions have proved a boon for outdoor gear retailers too. "People are buying more warm underwear, merino wool base layers, socks and thermal pads. And what we're seeing right now is that warm boots are being requested," said Pavel Mironov, brand representative at retailer Matkamaailm.

Particularly, city slickers and those not normally out and about in the great outdoors are noticeable as customers: Serious hikers tend already to have all the gear, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.

One sector not enjoying the cold much is construction. Not only is toiling in the cold not much fun for workers, the cold conditions consume more resources, not least because of slower progress – a job which would take four weeks is currently taking about five weeks, the companies say. Various works currently take about a week longer per month.

Risto Sappinen, head of the concrete works department at construction firm Merko, told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "The cold weather is making life a bit more difficult for us all. The snow has to be cleared, the ice thawed, and the temperature of the concrete has to be maintained at above zero after pouring, which brings a lot more physical work. On top of that, documentation has to be completed — all the temperatures must be logged, which means more paperwork."

About the only bright spot is the coldest conditions have come in late winter. "It's already February, March is coming soon, so we'll manage," Sappinen added.
2026 in Estonia began with a much colder, drier, and sunnier January than usual, as average temperatures ran nearly 5C below the long-term norm. The coldest reading came on January 6 in Jõgeva at -26.8C. While this has been the coldest winter in quarter of a century, it has been also one of the sunniest in over 60 years.

Estonia's northern neighbor has it much worse: Temperatures of below -42C have been seen in Lapland, Yle reported.

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