A dog out for a walk in central Stockholm pictured on January 18th 2014. Photo: Erik Mårtensson / TT

Temperatures hit -41 in Swedish cold snap

Residents living in far northern Sweden woke up to a temperature of -41.2 C on Sunday as the harsh winter continues to bite across the rest of the country.

The village of Karesuando, right at the very northern tip of Sweden, clocked the epic cold temperature during Sunday reports the Swedish weather agency SMHI. 

"It is also a seasonal record," said SMHI meteorologist Lars Unnerstad to the TT news agency. The recorded temperature of -41.2 was a record for that region which is right on the Finnish border.

Unnerstad added that he expected more cold records to break during the next 24 hours due to the high pressure, lack of wind and the continuing clear weather.

The deep freeze has had an impact on local transport in the region with train and bus services being cancelled as a result.

"The limit for the trains to operate is -30 C and the buses we can drive until it is -35. If it is colder then we think it is a safety hazard," said Annelie Lindeblad of Arriva.

In the rest of Sweden the cold is not as severe but SMHI added that the whole country was covered in snow on Saturday for the first time this winter.

Stockholmers are expected to have a break from fresh snowfall for the next few days, with temperatures remaining around -5 while people in Gothenburg can expect something similar with burst of sunshine on Tuesday.

A class 1 weather warning was issued on the Roslagen coast, part of the Stockholm archipelago, to expect heavy snowfall.

In southern Sweden several car accidents were reported in the region of Skåne caused by the weather conditions. However, the police said there were no injuries.

Temperatures in Malmö will have a high of 0 C during Sunday with snow set to arrive again on Tuesday.

Despite the freeze of -41.2 recorded in Karesuando it is still some way off the coldest temperature ever set in Sweden. Back in 1966 the dial reached -52.6 in the Swedish Lapland region of Vuoggatjålme.