Temperatures hit -40°C in Sweden, coldest in 25 years

Sweden recorded some of their coldest temperatures of the winter for a second day in a row on Wednesday when thermometers plummeted as low as -40°C.

The country recorded its coldest January night in 25 years. The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute reported temperatures below -40°C and 30°C at several locations on Wednesday.

In Kvikkjokk-Årrenjarka in the northernmost Lapland mountain, the mercury dropped to -43.6°C, the coldest temperature in the country in January since 1999, Sweden’s TT news agency reported.

Nikkaluokta, a small village inhabited by indigenous Sami people in northern Sweden, recorded a temperature of -41.6°C on Tuesday, the meteorology department said. It added it was not unusual for temperatures to dip below -40°C in Nikkaluokta.

In the northeastern city of Umea, temperatures dropped to -30.7°C, the lowest level in 12 years.

All passenger trains to the north of Umea were suspended until Thursday given risks of the frigid cold spell, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported.

The Swedish meteorological institute said that a mass of high pressure with cold air was blanketing the northeast of Sweden and the north of Finland, contributing to the cold wave.

“It’s the coldest temperature we have had so far this winter, and it will continue to be quite cold weather in the north,” SVT meteorologist Nils Holmqvist said.

In February 2001, Sweden recorded the coldest temperature this century in Storbo, when temperatures plummeted to -44°C.

Frigid temperatures disrupt road and rail traffic In neighbouring Finland, temperatures also plummeted to the low double-digits in many parts, with temperatures ranging between -20°C and -30°C in most parts of the country, the local meteorological institute reported on Tuesday.

In parts of central and northern Finland, temperatures were forecast to drop to -40°C in the next days.

Cold and snow has disrupted transportation throughout the region, including in Norway, where a major highway in the south was closed and ferry lines suspended operations.

Swedish train operations said the cold spell could cause substantial problems for rail traffic in the Arctic north.

Police across most of Denmark urged motorists on Wednesday to avoid unnecessary trips as wind and snow battered the northern and western parts of the country. However, southern Denmark was battling flooding caused by heavy rain.

Source: Deutsche Welle