Kuva: Kostiantyn Vierkieiev/Unsplash.
Finland and Ukraine improve weather services and air-threat warnings through cooperation
The Finnish Meteorological Institute has enhanced Ukraine’s weather services, while Finland is developing its own air‑threat warning systems based on lessons learned from Ukraine.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute has modernised Ukraine’s weather and warning services in cooperation with the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center, the institute reports. The four‑year UFIM development project was completed in December 2025.
As part of the project, ten weather observation stations were upgraded, a modern digital forecasting system was introduced, and new public weather services—such as a mobile weather application—were developed. The new system has improved the accuracy of weather forecasts and enabled the creation of new automated weather products for authorities. Ukraine’s rescue services use the weather data in their operations.
The project also assessed war‑related damage to Ukraine’s observation network. This assessment can support efforts to secure funding for reconstruction as well as international legal processes concerning war‑related damages.
The project was funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland through the IKI funding instrument. Vaisala supplied the automatic weather stations.
Cooperation in Finland
Finland is also cooperating with Ukraine to improve Finnish systems. In February, the Ministry of the Interior announced the launch of a project to develop a new feature for the Emergency Response Centre Agency’s 112 Suomi application that would warn citizens of airborne threats.
The project will be carried out with EU funding, and other EU Member States can also benefit from the results of Finland’s development work.
Finland is drawing on lessons learned from Ukraine in its development work, while also offering its strong civil defence expertise to Ukraine. This work has shown that Finland needs a more multi-channel warning system. In Ukraine, various mobile apps have been utilised, for example, to warn the population.