While rain can ease drought conditions, prolonged downpours damage crops and affect roads.Photo of flooded allotment garden plots in Kotka. Image: Kalle Purhonen / YleYle News15:54Much of Finland has experienced unusually heavy rainfall in July, with the first weekend of the month bringing widespread showers and thunderstorms across the country.While regular summer rain is generally beneficial for nature and helps keep gravel roads from becoming dusty, prolonged wet weather can create deep potholes, muddy road surfaces and poor visibility as roadside vegetation grows rapidly.Forests and waterways under pressureFor forests, heavy rain rarely causes major direct damage, but researchers say climate change is increasing both intense rainfall and drought, placing additional stress on ecosystems. In areas such as Kotka in the southeast, excess water has already flooded allotment gardens and crop fields.Heavy rain can also flood nesting holes and other habitats, while rapid runoff means much of the water flows into rivers and lakes instead of soaking into the ground. However, earlier drought conditions in Finland were so severe that recent rains have mainly restored soil moisture to normal levels rather than significantly replenishing groundwater.Strawberry harvest hitThe wet weather has also caused problems for farmers, especially strawberry growers. Excess moisture has increased the risk of mould, softened berries and in some cases made it difficult for machinery to enter fields.Strawberry farmer Vesa Koivistoinen in Lahti said many open-field strawberries have deteriorated because of the rain. As a result, more growers are turning to tunnel cultivation, which offers more stable growing conditions and a longer harvest season.Growers say tunnel cultivation provides more reliable growing conditions, better-quality berries and a longer harvest season, while shielding crops from volatile weather. Image: Dani Branthin / Yle"If berries could talk..."Despite the challenges, cooler temperatures have brought some benefits for berry production."If berries could talk, they would say that 18–20 degrees would be nice for us," explained Sirkku Holttinen, chair of the Häme district of the Finnish Fruit and Berry Growers' Association.Holttinen added that strawberries also need plenty of sunshine. Fortunately, forecasters expect temperatures to rise over the weekend, bringing a return to warmer summer weather across much of FinlandThe mercury may even rise close to 30 degrees in some southern and eastern areas on Sunday, according to Yle meteorologist Henriikka Heikinoja.