New Delhi, Jan. 12 -- Thousands of tourists were stranded in northern Finland on Sunday after flights at Kittila airport were canceled due to severe cold.

The temperature at the airport dropped to minus 37 degrees Celsius (minus 34.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday morning, after several days of similar frigid weather, making de-icing of aircraft and other operations difficult, Finland's national public broadcaster Yle reported.

The deep freeze is expected to continue in Kittila, which is located in Finnish Lapland in the sparsely populated north, on Monday, when the Finnish Meteorological Institute predicts temperatures of almost minus 40 C (minus 40 F).

Finns are generally used to frosty winter temperatures but this year's cold, which ...