Measurements of the surface fluxes of heat and water vapour were taken at four sites across the European Arctic as part of the EU funded LAPP project. The sites cover a range of latitudinal, altitudinal and climatic conditions. The most northerly site is near Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, a polar semidesert with continuous permafrost. A second permafrost site is a fen area in the Zackenberg valley, East Greenland. Finally two sites in northern Finland, Skalluvaara and Kaamanen are on the southern boundary of the region affected by permafrost. At all sites measurements were made of the turbulent fluxes of heat and water vapour using eddy correlation equipment for at least one active season. The net radiation totals for July and August are similar at all sites. At the sites with permafrost a substantial proportion (over 20%) of the net radiation goes into soil heat flux, to thaw the soil moisture in the top metre. Of the remaining energy just over half is used for evaporation. At the Finnish sites the vegetation is largely deciduous and this is seen in the record with higher evaporative ratios in July and August, after the vegetation becomes green. The Finnish sites tend to have higher surface resistance to evaporation; however, the evaporative demand is greater leading to slightly higher evaporation rates. The two Finnish sites have a similar seasonal pattern determined by the water table and seasonality of the vegetation. The two northern sites show a pattern that is determined primarily by the variation of water table only. It is concluded that the water balance through the active season is influenced primarily by the history of snow cover. The seasonality of the vegetation, the permafrost and the depth of water table are also important influences.