Tallinn and Estonia’s Weather Cameras for Planning What to Wear on Your Trip
Text Timo Raussi Photos Screenshot
Many people heading to Estonia on a day cruise or a trip of several nights ask in online groups what kind of shoes, winter boots or studded anti-slip aids they should pack. Responsibility for winter maintenance of Tallinn’s streets and pavements was transferred this year from outsourced contracts to the city itself, and at least the first comments from residents following the heavy snowfalls of recent days have been positive.
Before setting off, you can easily check for yourself whether pavements have been ploughed, gritted, are snowy, slushy, wet, or even completely dry. There are numerous traffic and weather cameras across Estonia, and especially in Tallinn, that provide real-time images. Admittedly, even these cameras do not always reveal treacherous black ice. On the other hand, you can entertain yourself by watching a chosen street view for a little longer and seeing whether pedestrians are slipping and falling, or striding forward with steady steps.
Tallinn’s intersection cameras—and there are plenty of them, no fewer than 256 in total! Most of the cameras are aimed at the roads, but pedestrian crossings and pavements are also clearly visible. From the front-page menu you can select the cameras for the district or main road you are interested in.
It is also worth remembering that, especially in Tallinn, a great deal of salt and various chloride compounds are used to combat road slipperiness compared to Finland—and footwear really doesn’t like that at all. Intersection cameras are therefore a useful way to check whether snowploughs have left thick layers of salty slush or even pond-sized puddles along the edges of the road at pedestrian crossings. Unfortunately, in this respect the city authorities are very much following the opinions of voters who prefer driving on bare roads with friction tyres.
Estonia’s road condition cameras, known as TarkTee—the map service maintained by the Estonian Transport Administration allows drivers to check driving conditions and weather information via a network of more than 150 cameras and weather stations. The map also shows planned roadworks as well as temporary speed limits imposed on roads in connection with major events. That said, many motorists use the Waze app for navigation, as locals update it in real time not only with this information but also with traffic jams caused by accidents, and even temporary police speed cameras.
Leviran SkyView cameras—mast-mounted cameras operated by the company that transmits radio and TV signals, located in Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu, Saaremaa, Kohtla-Järve in eastern Estonia, and Valgjärve near the town of Põlva in the southeast of the country. From these cameras, positioned at heights of 140–278 metres, you can’t see the road surface, but they do reveal current weather conditions and, to the delight of many photography enthusiasts, the possible appearance of the northern lights.
City cameras on the Pistik website—this site has collected and linked together several dozen webcams installed in the central squares, beaches, and near major sights of various Estonian cities. Most of the camera feeds also display the date and time code, so you can be sure the image is truly live.
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