Lapland

This is Lapland - home of Father Christmas and his army of little helpers, including the reindeer pictured above. If I had more money and a son who wasn't pathologically afraid of flying, I might consider going there for a short weekend break to take a sleigh ride in the snow and meet Santa Claus. Apparently these trips are de rigeur with aspirational parents who want their offspring to have the perfect childhood. Unfortunately, this year something has gone wrong.

There isn't any snow in Lapland.

The town of Rovaniemi is well within the Arctic Circle, but this year the surrounding area looks more like this:

Yes, I am climbing on my environmental hobby horse, but the fact that there is no snow in an area of the Arctic surely can't be right? This is December.

One British lawyer who took his son to meet Father Christmas commented 'Max had expectations of coming out of the hotel and building a snowman, but there's nothing to build one with. He's very disappointed. There is so much less for him to be able to do. I've had a little talk with him about global warming.'