People can ice skate between islands after half the Baltic Sea froze over
After an unusually cold winter, islands have been isolated by an unusually frozen Baltic Sea, with conditions keeping ships from docking in ports.
Ice skaters were seen gliding across the frozen Baltic Sea near Haapsalu, Estonia, in late January. The deep freeze turned the sea into a vast natural ice field under a low-hanging winter sun.
Half of the Baltic sea has frozen over, something that hasn't happened in at least 15 years, allowing people to ice skate from one island to the next.
The ice is also keeping ships from docking at ports in Finland, Estonia and Russia.
A Copernicus satellite took a photo on Feb. 27 of a navigation channel cut in the ice, linking the town of Kuivastu, on Muhu Island, with the city of Virtsu, on the west coast of mainland Estonia.
Icy conditions are visible in this image, acquired on 17 February 2026 by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites. The image shows the navigation channel linking the town of Kuivastu, on Muhu Island, with the city of Virtsu on the west coast of mainland Estonia. The narrow corridor carved across the frozen Suur Strait marking the shipping lane, and a ship sailing across are clearly visible in the image. (Copernicus/Sentinel-2)
Copernicus reported the maximum coverage of ice in the Baltic sea reaching 181,000 square kilometers (70,000 square miles) — about half of the sea's area of 377,000 sq. km. (146,000 square miles) — on Jan. 31. Last winter, the peak was only 81,000 sq km, just over the 14-year historical average maximum.
Ice extent by day of year for the Baltic Sea (Finnish Meteorological Institute / Copernicus)
Estonia has had a historically cold winter, with the city of Tartu recording its longest string of days below freezing (32 F / 0 C) since 1999.
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