Sweden braces for week of heavy snow

Sweden is bracing for a white week as meteorologists predict heavy snowfall throughout the country and have issued a nationwide class 1 warning.

 There may be large quantities of snow," explained Lisa Frost of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, SMHI, to the Aftonbladet newspaper.

"As it's the first snow and it's quite early in the season, we're issuing the warning - especially as some people haven't changed to their winter tyres yet."

A class 1 warning is the least serious on SMHI's three-level scale, and indicates "certain risks for society" which can cause "disruption to some important societal functions".

The snowfall is expected to be heavy in certain parts of central Sweden and by Monday night will likely move on towards the north.

Throughout Monday, the Dalarna and Värmland counties have been slammed by a lengthy snow storm, which has left ten centimetres of snow. SMHI forecast a further 10 centimetres before Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) is already fighting the blizzards.

“The snow that has fallen has made the roads slippery,” Fredrik Glennemo of the agency told the Expressen newspaper.

“But we have people out there plowing. So far, we haven’t had any accidents.”
Southern Sweden is set to escape the snowfall for a little while longer with temperatures hovering just above zero

The season’s lowest temperature was recorded on Sunday night with Nattavaara in far northern Sweden hitting -22.1 degrees Celsius.

(news@thelocal.se)