A total of 18 people drowned in June across Finland, according to preliminary figures from the Finnish Swimming Teaching and Lifesaving Federation (SUH).

Five of the fatalities occurred in connection to water transportation activities, and six involved swimming. However, the sequence of events were still unclear in seven of the deaths.

There were five drownings during this year's Midsummer weekend. Usually there are an average of seven drowning deaths each year during the holiday.

In June of last year, 30 people drowned, which was a record number of such deaths for the month.

On average, around 100-150 people drown in Finland annually, with health conditions increasingly being blamed for the fatalities.

Around twice as many people drown each year in Finland compared to the countries of Norway and Sweden, per capita.