The snowstorm has paralyzed train and air traffic
The roads in northern and central Sweden have been plagued by accidents on Monday due to the weekend's snowfall.
The snow has also affected train traffic and local transport around the country.
And the snow chaos is not over yet – now SMHI is expanding its warnings for snowfall in Western Sweden.
Snow began falling across several parts of the country on Friday. Two people died in traffic accidents and emergency services warned road users not to venture out into the storm.
On Monday afternoon, the Swedish Transport Administration had issued several warnings for difficult road conditions and slippery conditions on the major roads, especially in Svealand and Norrland.
Heavy snow continued to fall over central and northern Sweden over the weekend and on Monday SMHI warned of a snowstorm that was heading into western Sweden.
SMHI is now expanding snow warnings in Western Sweden.
The Class 1 warning for snowfall applied to Västra Götaland County and Halland County and has now been expanded with two new warnings regarding inland Dalsland and Värmland.
– New forecasts show that it will be a little worse than expected in these areas, says Henrik Reimer at SMHI to TT.
During the afternoon and evening, the snowfall will intensify and up to 10-15 centimeters may fall in the areas where warnings have been issued, writes TT.
Already on Monday afternoon, a number of accidents were noticed in Västra Götaland.
– V has had a few accidents where you slide off the road or hit a guardrail, but fortunately none have resulted in serious personal injuries. We will have to wait and see if it gets worse, says Ulla Brehm, press spokesperson for the police in the West region.
Trains and flights cancelled
But even where there is no snow, the effects of the storm are still visible. Both train and air traffic have been affected by several delays and cancellations.
According to Swedavia, 260 flights out of 606 to and from Arlanda were canceled on Sunday and delays in air traffic continued into Monday afternoon, writes TT.
"We are following developments and preparing with staffing and resources as much as we can. The problem is that it is not possible to start snow removal before the snow arrives," says Ulrika Fager at Swedavia's press office to TT.
”Simply a mess”
The snow has also caused problems in local transport. In particular, commuter trains both north and south of Stockholm have caused problems due to frozen points.
Several bus routes have also been affected by severe delays and several canceled departures on Monday.
– It is simply a matter of time, and then we cannot run buses at all in some places. We advise our passengers to keep an eye on our website and in the app, says Claes Keisu, information manager at SL.
– If you can avoid traveling during rush hour, that is of course the best.
Source.aftonbladet.se-TT
