"The reindeer are really longing for the winter now," Veijo Tervonen of the Finnish Reindeer Herders' Association told AFP.

"Particularly the heat and all the insects are bothering the reindeers. It's really terrible for them, and now they only eat at night, when it gets colder," he noted.

The reindeer are after all more accustomed to 30 degrees below zero (minus 22 Fahrenheit) than 30 above, Tervonen pointed out.

At the Santa Claus Village theme park, which claims to be the official home of Father Christmas, an official told AFP that Santa was working full-time -- as usual -- despite the warm weather, welcoming some 2,000 visitors a day.

"With the heat inside the office reaching 32 degrees (90 Fahrenheit), it's tough for him, but everything is going fine," Jarmo Kariniemi, managing director of Santa Claus' office, said.

Santa has however donned a more summery outfit than his normal heavy winter attire, Kariniemi conceded.

"He is actually wearing shorts, and has rolled up the sleeves on his shirt because the heat is a little bit too much for him. So we are happy there are only a few such warm days every summer," Kariniemi said.

The temperature surpassed 29 degrees Celsius in several places in Finland's northern Lapland province on Wednesday, but the record so far this summer of 30.7 degrees Celsius (87 Fahrenheit) was set on July 2 in Kevo, the Finnish Meteorological Institute said.

TERRA.WIRE