Winter weather: Heavy snow causes chaos in Sweden and Finland

Power outages and traffic problems
Heavy snow causes chaos in Sweden and Finland

Snowy chaos, high winds and near-bitty cold have caused power outages, traffic delays and other problems in parts of Scandinavia. Broadcaster SVT reported that nearly 5,000 homes in the Swedish county of Västernorrland temporarily had no electricity on Tuesday morning. Primary schools also closed their doors, such as the Swedish TV station TV4 mentioned.

Hundreds of power outages have also been reported and in some places an increased risk of avalanches due to large amounts of snow from neighboring Jamtland. The SMHI Meteorological Authority has warned that heavy snowfall continues in different parts of the country, and weather warnings have been activated in many places.

How SVT As reported, there were several road accidents in the Skåne area on Wednesday.

Gym roofs give way under blocks of ice

There was also a thick layer of snow over large parts of Finland. According to radio station YLE, a snowstorm in the south of the northernmost EU country has caused many motorists to get off the road. Consequently, thousands of families – especially on the West Coast and Southwest – were temporarily without electricity. Police in Helsinki have called on Finns in the capital region to stay home and work from there.

In the Finnish capital as well as in the city of Espoo, two roofs of inflatable gyms tore under the weight of the snow on Wednesday. YLE I mentioned as well. There were no injuries.

As in neighboring Sweden, meteorologists have assumed that the snowstorm should last until at least Wednesday.

rw
DPA