At the peak of the cold snap, ice coverage measured 180,000 square kilometers, but this has now shrunk to around 140,000 square kilometers, he said.

According to the forecast, the Väinameri will remain covered with ice in the coming days, but in the Gulf of Riga and the Gulf of Finland, the ice is moving around the bays due to shifting winds, Uiboupin said.

"Very little new ice is forming anymore, as the peak of winter has passed. Long-term ice statistics show that the maximum ice extent in the Baltic Sea is usually reached by the end of February. According to the Environmental Agency's forecast, southwesterly and southerly winds will be blowing in the coming days, as a result of which the ice will begin to break up in several areas. For example, open water is five kilometers from the recently closed Saaremaa-Hiiumaa ice road," he explained.

A layer of water may accumulate on top of the ice cover, also caused by southwesterly winds and rising water levels along the Estonian coast. "Over the past 10 days, the water level in the Väinameri has risen by 30 to 40 centimeters," he added.

"This winter has had more ice than the average of the past 30 years," Uiboupin said, adding that there have also been winters, such as 2010/2011, when there was significantly more ice. "The year has been above average, but not extreme," he explained.

The professor said what is interesting about this winter is that until the end of December, ice conditions were very mild, and only at the beginning of January did ice begin to form on the Baltic Sea. "The season has had strong contrasts," Uiboupin noted.

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