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aThu, 04.01.2024 15:49:00 +0100 b4.01.2024 15:49 c
Updated: April 1, 2024 3:49 p.m. Issued: April 1, 2024 1:56 p.m
A convoy of trucks got stuck on the E22 highway near Linderöd in southern Sweden on January 4, 2024. AP/Johan Nilsson
Stockholm/Copenhagen/AmsterdamLondon – Extreme cold and snowstorms affected transport in Scandinavia, where some schools canceled classes due to the freezing weather. In Western Europe, strong winds and torrential rain caused flooding. The Guardian reported on it today. Heavy snow blocked around a thousand cars and trucks on the Swedish highway for more than 24 hours, and the army had to provide food and drinking water to passengers.
Temperatures in the Nordic countries fell below minus 40 degrees Celsius for the second day in a row on Wednesday. In Swedish Lapland, the mercury temperature fell to minus 43.6 degrees Celsius, the lowest January temperature recorded in Sweden in 25 years, Swedish news agency TT reported.
Extremely cold temperatures, snow and storms affected transport across Scandinavia, with several bridges closed and some train and ferry services suspended. Some schools also canceled classes. Police across much of Denmark urged drivers to avoid unnecessary journeys as wind and snow swept across northern and western parts of the country.
There were already traffic delays on the main road E22 in Sweden on Wednesday morning when the road between Hörby and Kristianstad became impassable in both directions due to snow. Hundreds of cars remained stranded in the snowdrifts. “There is total chaos,” police spokeswoman Evelina Olsson told the BBC. Snow plows arrived Wednesday evening and police and rescue workers worked throughout the night to free people from hundreds of cars. Some had health problems, including diabetes.
Erika Sepeliovaite told the website Aftonbladet that she, her two children and the dog were released after 19 hours. Malin Johansson, 56, from Aahus, said she and her partner started their car periodically to keep warm. She told the Expressen daily that they were freed when rescuers destroyed a barrier on the road at 4:30 a.m. Thursday morning and allowed them to drive away.
Soldiers were sent to the site to provide food and water to the trapped people. “The problem is that it is snowing so heavily that the road is buried half an hour after the snowplow passes,” said spokeswoman Olsson.
This morning some cars had already been cleared, but trucks were still stuck in the snowdrifts. Police said conditions were gradually improving, but added that the road would not be open until Friday morning at the earliest.
A wave of cold air from Siberia and the Arctic region also swept across western Russia, with temperatures in Moscow and other areas plunging to minus 30 degrees Celsius, well below average temperatures in early January. Authorities in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other areas have warned of a possible threat to residents’ health.
The storm, which weather services in Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands called “Henk,” continued to rage across parts of western Europe. There were power outages, one death, traffic problems, property damage and traffic disruptions across the UK.
In France, the northern departments of Pas-de-Calais and Nord have been hit by heavy rains since Sunday, forcing the evacuation of about 200 people and leaving 10,000 households without power, according to local authorities. Streets in the town of Blendecques turned into streams of water and authorities on Wednesday warned residents in flood alert areas to limit their movement until water levels recede.
Hundreds of rescuers from across France set out to help people from flooded homes and clear roads. Reinforcements of personnel and equipment from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Netherlands are on their way to the country. An eighteen-person team from Hlučín traveled from the Czech Republic to France along with pumps and other equipment. The Czech firefighters announced on the social network this afternoon that they are currently driving through Germany.
Powerful pumps diverted up to 60,000 cubic meters of water from the hardest-hit cities towards the English Channel, lowering water levels around the Aa River delta, the regional prefecture said in a statement.
The National Weather Service today maintained a flood and wind warning for several regions in northern France and on the borders with Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany, with further rain and winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour expected.
Parts of Germany also struggled with flooding, which could be made worse by further rain in the hardest-hit northwestern state of Lower Saxony.
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