Finland borders the Russian Federation, and many Russians go to this wonderful snow-covered country for a short vacation or weekend. Of course, when traveling, you need to take into account the time difference between Finland and Russia, especially using air and rail transport.
What is the time difference between countries now?
In 2017, the time difference between Finland and Moscow is exactly one hour. To find out what time it is in Finland now, you just need to count down an hour ago. For example, if in Moscow it’s now 16:00, then in Helsinki it’s 15:00. This only works for the winter season; Finland makes the transition to it on the last Sunday of October.
Since Russia has not translated daylight saving time since 2011, and constant winter time has been adopted since 2014, Finland and Russia have no time difference since the last Sunday of March.
True, this applies only to regions with Moscow time; other regions have a larger time zone. At the same time, some regions were allowed to leave the summer-winter transition, so it is necessary to navigate based on local time. But in Kaliningrad in winter time is Finnish, and in summer it overtakes its northern neighbors by an hour.
How was it before in both countries?
The first transition of the Finnish state to summer time was made back in 1942, but only for a short time. But since 1981, it began to be held on an ongoing basis, annually. After 15 years, special days for translation were determined, they became the last Sundays of March and October. By order of the European Union, since 2002, the transfer began at one in the morning.
As for Russia, the first decisions on changing the time from normal to summer are dated 1917. In the end, as in friendly Finland, the year 81 began the annual translation of watches.
But in 2011, a decision was made to cancel the transfer, and it began with the cancellation of the transition to winter time. Thus, until 2014, Russians lived in a constant winter time, and since 2014, when such a decision was made impractical, in a constant summer time.
Perspectives of Finland's transition to constant time
Despite the negative results of the polls over the past few years, in December 2017, Finland decided to submit to the EU a project to abolish daylight saving time, which is traditionally used to save electricity.
The Finns believe that the abolition of the transition, which implies forced adaptation to the new schedule, will have a beneficial effect on health. Some studies suggest that this process has an extremely negative effect on “owls” and people with cardiovascular diseases, which is why a decision was made about a new lifestyle. In the near future, discussions on this topic will be held in the European Union, but for now, the Finnish side will continue to translate arrows.
Why is it important to take into account the time difference between the two countries?
Tourists who have to fly or move from Russia to this country (and vice versa) during autumn and summer transitions should be very careful about the time difference with Finland.
This is especially true for transfer traffic. The fact is that tickets for an airplane or for Leo Tolstoy and Allegro trains always indicate the time of departure, arrival and the total travel time. Travelers who want to get to the transfer company, most often receive all the information only by phone and by mistake can focus on a different time zone.
In order to avoid the troubles and the languid expectation of another transport, or even search for a new one in a bad mood, you need to clarify this point in advance with the carrier. When talking, it is important to clarify the readiness of transport according to Finnish or Russian time, so that the time difference between Finland and Russia does not become a real problem for you.