During the current blast from the Arctic, Bay of Bothnia had wind speeds of category 1 hurricane equivalent. While not the first winter storm to do so, the record 10 min sustained speeds of wind is now 32,4m/s for the Finnish side of the bay. Gusts reached 40,2m/s, and hurricane-force limits also on coastal stations.
A gust of 41,6 m/s was recorded in Kökar, an island on Northern Baltic between Åland and Mainland Finland. This is among the fastest gusts measured here. Associated significant wave heights have also been the highest ever for Bothnian Bay, c.23,5 feet, top measured waveheights of near 11 meters have been observed
Update, the one fatality in Finland due the storm was after the storm, when a man clearing fallen trees had an accident with the tractor he used as help in claring the way. The three finnsh and one swedish person trekking out in Norway are still missing. And of course the same storm caused (at lest partially) the train accident in Denmark with 8 fatalities.
Update: the four ski-trekkers now presumed dead in an avalanche, two of them had some training to be wilderness guides.