Temperatures hit MINUS 40C as Sweden sees its coldest January night for 25 years
Temperatures fell below minus 40 degrees Celsius in the Scandinavian region for the second day in a row on Wednesday, with the coldest January temperature recorded in Sweden in 25 years.
In Kvikkjokk-Årrenjarka in Swedish Lapland, the mercury fell to minus 43.6 C (minus 46.5 F), the coldest January temperature in the country since 1999, Swedish news agency TT reported.
On Tuesday, Nikkaluokta, a village inhabited by indigenous Sami people in northern Sweden, recorded a temperature of minus 41.6 degrees Celsius.
The village is located in Lapland, which stretches from the northern parts of Norway through Sweden and Finland to Russia.
Ida Dahlström of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute said northern Sweden had temperatures of minus 25-35 C at night “and the cold looks set to stay there for the rest of the week,” TT reported.
SWEDEN: Temperatures fell below minus 40 degrees Celsius for the second day in a row in the Nordic region today, with the coldest January temperature recorded in Sweden in 25 years
In Kvikkjokk-Årrenjarka in Swedish Lapland, the mercury fell to minus 43.6 C (minus 46.5 F), the coldest temperature in the country in January since 1999. In the municipality of Kiruna, in northern Sweden (pictured), the temperature -38.9. degrees Celsius in the morning
Ida Dahlström of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute said northern Sweden had temperatures of minus 25-35 C at night “and the cold looks set to stay there for the rest of the week,” TT reported
The coldest Swedish temperature in January – minus 49 C (minus 56 F) – was recorded on January 27, 1999 in the town of Karesuando, near the Finnish border.
The weather – cold with snow and gale-force winds – disrupted transport in the Nordic region, with several bridges closed and some train and ferry services suspended. Several schools in Scandinavia were closed.
“To put that into perspective, that is the lowest January temperature in Sweden since 1999,” Mattias Lind, meteorologist at Sweden's national weather agency SMHI, told AFP after the country reported the figure of 43.6 degrees Celsius.
“It is the lowest temperature recorded at this particular site since records began” in 1888, he said. Several other stations recorded temperatures below minus 40 degrees Celsius in northern Sweden.
While residents of the region are used to freezing temperatures, the recent cold snap has forced local bus companies to suspend services. Train company Vy said on Tuesday that all trains north of the city of Umea have been canceled for days.
In Finland, the weather is forecast to remain cold across the country with temperatures down to minus 35 C (minus 31 F) in the north, at least until Sunday.
The trains were also disrupted there.
FINLAND: A man climbs out of the icy sea to the pier in southern Helsinki, January 2. In Finland, the weather is forecast to remain cold across the country with temperatures down to minus 35 C in the north, at least until Sunday
A man walks across the frozen sea in southern Helsinki on Tuesday
People walk on Senate Square near Helsinki Cathedral amid cold weather in Helsinki
The cold front is expected to move south in the coming days, with temperatures in the Finnish capital Helsinki expected to drop to minus 15 degrees Celsius as early as Wednesday
DENMARK: A man operates a snow plow in Aalborg, January 3
A person walks amid heavy snow in Randers, Denmark, January 3
A heavy snowfall in Viborg, Central Jutland, Denmark, Wednesday, January 3
Vehicles drive next to a pedestrian amid heavy snowfall in Randers, Denmark, January 3
People cycle amid heavy snowfall in Aalborg, Denmark, January 3
Several cases of frozen or burst water pipes were also reported, and Finnish broadcaster YLE said around 300 people in the city of Tampere were without running water on Tuesday.
The cold front is expected to move south in the coming days, with temperatures in the Finnish capital Helsinki expected to drop to minus 15 degrees Celsius as early as Wednesday.
But despite colder temperatures expected tomorrow, some residents of the capital were unfazed by the prospect.
'I really love it. I think it's a question of mentality,” Katja, a woman from Helsinki, told the AFP news agency on Wednesday.
“It's all about the clothes,” she said, wearing a thick black winter coat with the hood pulled over her head.
“Yeah, just a lot of clothes and the attitude – like it's getting cold, but it's beautiful,” her friend Nita agreed as the snow fell.
Police in most of Denmark urged motorists on Wednesday to avoid unnecessary journeys as wind and snow lashed northern and western parts of the country.
The Danish Meteorological Institute said there was a risk of snowy and icy roads in many parts of the country and issued an orange warning – the second highest – for heavy rainfall in the south, which is struggling with flooding.
NORWAY: A person skis on the sidewalk after heavy snowfall in Kristiansand, January 3
Icicles hang from lampposts as a woman makes her way through a snowstorm in Kristiansand, southern Norway, on January 3
The extreme cold is also expected to hit Norway by the end of the week, with temperatures in Oslo possibly dropping to minus 27 degrees Celsius this weekend, the national weather service said.
Heavy snow has already hit the south of the country with school closures and flight cancellations.
Further south, parts of Germany – where the weather was mild and wet – were also experiencing flooding, which could be worsened by new rain in the worst-hit northwestern state of Lower Saxony.
Police near the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven said high winds may have played a role in the death of a 75-year-old man who fell from his bicycle late on Tuesday as high winds battered much of the Netherlands.