Hundreds of cars were stuck along motorways in southern Sweden and Denmark today, authorities said, with heavy snowfall, strong winds and icy conditions bringing gridlock to the region.
In Sweden, military personnel were dispatched to assist rescue services working to aid stranded motorists between the towns of Horby and Kristianstad in the south of the country.
After drivers who requested help were rescued, the people who remained in the area were mostly lorry drivers, according to emergency services on the scene.
Sweden’s armed forces using “tracked vehicles have picked up people from trapped cars and around 100 people are at the assembly point opened by Horby municipality,” where the temperature had dropped to -5C, police said in a statement.
Overnight, food was provided to these people and a few cases of “illness were treated,” the statement added.
Many cars were abandoned on the road, while others were able to turn around as rescue workers reportedly cut holes in the metal barriers separating the southbound and northbound lanes.
This evening, almost 1,000 vehicles were trapped in gridlock due to snow, and the road is expected to remain closed until tomorrow, according to the Swedish Transport Administration.
Police have called on residents to avoid driving in the region.
In neighbouring Denmark, motorists were advised to avoid the area around Aarhus, the country’s second-largest city, where traffic jams have reached 30km.
“The roads are causing major problems … many motorists have been stuck in queues for several hours”, Danish police said on social media. “So think twice and stay at home”.
Up to half a metre of snow has fallen, the most since 2011, according to Denmark’s meteorological institute DMI.
In Norway’s far north, in Kautokeino, the temperature fell to -41.6C overnight.
Schools remained closed in several municipalities in the south of the country following heavy snowfall in recent days, and some are expected to stay closed tomorrow.
Police have advised against driving and all trains between Oslo and Kristiansand have been cancelled.
In the Norwegian capital, Oslo, temperatures are expected to fall to as low as -25C this weekend.
In Finland, a new seasonal cold record was registered in Enontekio in the country’s northwest, where the mercury hit -42.1C.
