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WEATHER

Snow prompts traffic trouble across Sweden

Reports of traffic accidents continued to flood in from all parts of Sweden overnight as heavy snowfalls made driving conditions hazardous.

Snow prompts traffic trouble across Sweden

Towing services in Stockholm were pushed to capacity as motorists slid off the slushy roads around the capital.

But despite encountering large numbers of road accidents, police forces around the country had mercifully few reports of serious crashes.

While most of the accidents were largely unavoidable, police said a three-car pileup in Brahehus in southern Sweden was caused by an Italian driver with summer tyres.

“Not very clever considering the prevailing road conditions,” said a police spokesperson.

Chrysanthi Grammatopoulou at meteorological agency SMHI said snowfalls were expected along the entire east coast all day Thursday.

“But there will be occasional breaks,” she said.

The snow is also expected to drift inland to mountainous parts of western Norrland.

“There has however been an improvement in Västra Götaland, and it is also clear in parts of Värmland and northwestern Götaland. In Skåne too things have almost cleared up aside from a few light snow showers,” said Grammatopoulou.

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WEATHER

Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

Blizzards in Denmark this week have resulted in the greatest depth of snow measured in the country for 13 years.

Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

A half-metre of snow, measured at Hald near East Jutland town Randers, is the deepest to have occurred in Denmark since January 2011, national meteorological agency DMI said.

The measurement was taken by the weather agency at 8am on Thursday.

Around 20-30 centimetres of snow was on the ground across most of northern and eastern Jutland by Thursday, as blizzards peaked resulting in significant disruptions to traffic and transport.

A much greater volume of snow fell in 2011, however, when over 100 centimetres fell on Baltic Sea island Bornholm during a post-Christmas blizzard, which saw as much as 135 centimetres on Bornholm at the end of December 2010.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s January storms could be fourth extreme weather event in three months

With snowfall at its heaviest for over a decade, Wednesday saw a new rainfall record. The 59 millimetres which fell at Svendborg on the island of Funen was the most for a January day in Denmark since 1886. Some 9 weather stations across Funen and Bornholm measured over 50cm of rain.

DMI said that the severe weather now looks to have peaked.

“We do not expect any more weather records to be set in the next 24 hours. But we are looking at some very cold upcoming days,” DMI meteorologist and press spokesperson Herdis Damberg told news wire Ritzau.

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