Keep in mind that winter in the most-populated areas of Scandinavia and surrounding regions can be quite mild compared to cities in North America that are much

Keep in mind that winter in the most-populated areas of Scandinavia and surrounding regions can be quite mild compared to cities in North America that are much farther south. Consider the climates of cities like Ottawa and Montreal in Canada, or Minneapolis in the US, for example. They're at roughly the same latitude as Venice, Italy, yet get rather harsh winters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis#Climate Compare their climates to those of Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm, and Saint Petersburg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg#Climate Ottawa, Montreal, and Minneapolis can experience noticeably lower temperatures, more snowfall, and so on.