TempoLife › Outdoor risk and season guide › tick
Ticks (Lyme disease and TBE): season and precautions
April to October, whenever the ground is above about 5 °C.
These are general seasonal patterns for the Nordic and Baltic region, not a live forecast. Always check the current local advisory — the weather service, health authority or water-quality notice — before you head out.
The risk
Ticks wait on grass and low vegetation in forests, meadows and gardens and attach to skin as you brush past. They can pass on Lyme borreliosis (a bacterial infection) and tick-borne encephalitis, or TBE (a viral infection of the brain). The Baltic states and parts of the Nordics are among the higher-incidence areas in Europe for TBE, so this is a risk to take seriously rather than shrug off.
How to stay safe
Cover your legs and tuck trousers into socks in long grass, use a skin repellent, and wear light colours so ticks are easy to spot. Do a full-body check after every outing, including the scalp, behind the knees and the groin. Remove an attached tick promptly with fine tweezers, gripping close to the skin and pulling steadily. A TBE vaccine is available and widely recommended for people who spend time outdoors in the region.
Good to know
Watch children and pets especially. See a doctor if a spreading red ring, fever or flu-like illness follows a bite.
Other seasonal risks
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes breed in still water and are at their fiercest around bogs, lakes and wet forest, particularly in the long northern twilight.
Forest and wildfire risk
After a run of dry days the forest floor, heath and peat dry out and ignite easily.
Blue-green algae (cyanobacteria)
In warm, still water, cyanobacteria can multiply into a bloom that looks like spilled paint, greenish streaks or a scummy film on the surface.
Pollen and hay fever
The northern pollen season is compressed and intense.
Thin ice
Ice on lakes, rivers and the sea forms and melts unevenly.
Source: Seasonal patterns follow standard public-health and safety guidance for the region; confirm with the current local advisory. · checked 2026-09-04
Frequently asked questions
When is ticks (lyme disease and tbe) worst?
Late spring (May–June) and again in late summer (August–September).
How do I reduce the risk from ticks (lyme disease and tbe)?
Cover your legs and tuck trousers into socks in long grass, use a skin repellent, and wear light colours so ticks are easy to spot.
Enjoy the outdoors year round
TempoLife helps you keep an outdoor habit going safely through every season.