Continuing my adventures around the Baltic (and I may need to retitle this thread)

I am travelling by InterRAIL and so rail it is where possible. England to France, Luxembourg, Germany and Poland are "well known" and straightforward, and a previous post covered my travels up from Poland by train and then ferry up the east side of the Baltic to Finland. Two nights in Finland and I am now going around the top of the gulf of Bothnia.

* Finland to Sweden

Standard advice is to get the train to Kemi and then the bus to Tornio (about half an hour), walk across the international bridge, and get the onward bus to Lulea and then to Umea.  But this is a rail journey, and there is a daily train (or rather a single overnight train) from Helsinki to Kolari in Lapland which makes the only call of the day at Tornio East.  And so, overnight in Kemi and down to the station early in the morning for the 07:56.  Station almost deserted but waiting room open, warm, welcoming.

[snip]

And to to Tornio. It's a station that over a decade ago I compared in my train campaign blog to our local station at Melksham, without even seeing the place or pictures of it.  "The only place in Europe that doesn't have any trains calling in daylight in the winter".  Yeah - it's just about on the Arctic circle in Tornio, with an 08:21 northbound and a 22:16 southbound. 

[snip]

I'll be walking over to the Swedish shore - to the town of Haparanda - from where there is a copious service of three trains a day onwards. Two of these leave early in the morning long before I got here, so I'm headed for the 14:28.  Plenty of time - it's only 11:50 as I write, or is that 10:50 as I'm about to step back in time by an hour.  I'll follow up with this text to complete the sort once I'm in my next country, time zone and currency.  I am running out of pockets to keep coinage apart ...

[snip]

What an astonishing surprise!  Haparanda Station is the most astonishing building and the railway here has a history that deserves a complete article. Perhaps I should not have been surprised, for this is a strategic crossing point for people going between the East and the West, and between different sides and neutral zones too in times of war.  The buildings are magnificent to reflect the aspirations of the people who build them, and in recent years have been rescued and restored;  there is still work to do, perhaps, and the place has latent possibilities as it awaits visitors.  A refurbished cafe complete with a hot food display looks like it has never been used. And large interpretation boards - in Swedish Finish, and of course English tell the story.

Part of the story is that the rail service from here (the first station over the border from Finland) was only restored on 1st April 2021 - together with an intermediate station - so it would seem that this journey I am making today is something that wouldn't have been possible a handful of years ago.  My friend Heli in Oulu was telling me that they are looking to electrify the line on their side. I'm not so sure it's "build it and they will come" but the twin border town are quite respectable in size and I can see it happening.

Soon you can travel to Sweden by train

A total of 28 trains per week will run between Oulu and Haparanda from August 10, 2026, with connections to long-distance trains heading toward Helsinki. The connection to Sweden also makes it possible to travel overland to other parts of Europe.

Have mentioned this elsewhere, but it's worth noting that a lot of the "more trains than usual needing repair" excuse would appear to be due to insufficient aircon in drivers' cabs.

..................and politicians !

Now today 18:00 to 23:59 as well, looks like just the south west:
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2026-06-25&id=b140cd37-f344-496f-87f7-da9da80b0a30

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

.... In Torbay it is still Buses only from 0930hrs Mon-Fri.

There's a Met Office yellow warning for thunderstorms Friday 00:00 to 10:00 covering quite a lot of the south west.
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2026-06-26&id=3aea87c4-1219-43f4-b22e-88ea06d9935b

This appeared on X, attributed to "By Mike Jeffries via Facebook - This evening’s thunderstorm approaching Glastonbury." without a link to his Facebook. But its a stunning photo.

Calling hotel staff by name?  Positively creepy, and puts me in mind of TV/radio news where presenter and reporter feel the need to repeat each others' names, or an overenthusiastic estate agent or car sales person.

I was recently staying in an upmarket hotel by the Thames on the outskirts of London for a conference.   Apparently during the night someone got up for the loo and took a wrong turn and ended up locking themselves out of their room while naked.

He then had to make his way down two floors to reception to get assistance.

The bit I didn't understand was - he told everyone the next morning

...and then went on the forum.   

I could/should have worked from home today, but I had to do that for the other 2 days I was supposed to be in the office this week (not due to weather), so felt I should show my face.

The Met Office high resolution model UKV did show some potential for thunderstorms but the global models didn't have a sniff of them. Models specifically designed for thunderstorm potential also did reasonably well although those in the South East ended up a bit further north.

Should you walk around in the public areas with bare feet?  In your jammies? In your Birthday suite?