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STORM

Storm Dagmar leaves ‘chaos’ in its wake

With the day after Christmas being one of the biggest travel days in Sweden, with holiday makers going home after spending time with family, many will be in for a nasty surprise as their trains are cancelled and roads are blocked in the wake of storm Dagmar.

Storm Dagmar leaves 'chaos' in its wake

“This is a day many are planning to go home, But my advice is to postpone their journey as long as possible,” said Peter Behrman, press information officer at the Swedish Transport Authority (Trafikverket) to daily Dagens Nyheter (DN).

Although the storm has moved on, “chaos” is reportedly left in its wake, with rail traffic at a standstill, hundreds of thousands of households without power and fallen trees blocking many roads.

In some areas of Jämtland county, in central Sweden, Dagmar reached hurricane strength, leaving thousands of households without electricity.

Trees had fallen on several houses in Örebro and over many of the region’s roads, blocking traffic. One man was taken to hospital after a fallen tree had crushed his camper van.

The Transport Authority had cancelled all trains in Northern Sweden already at 8 pm on Christmas day. The decision affected counties Jämtland, Gävleborg and Västernorrland.

“We are afraid trains will get stuck due to fallen power lines or similar,” explained Behrman at the time.

Approximately ten already departed trains were not able to reach their destinations due to the decision. A night train from Malmö bound for Åre was forced to stop for a long break in Gävle.

“About 400 passengers were offered to overnight on board,” Hasse Höwitz, the train operator’s press contact, told TT.

The national rail service, SJ, also offered their travelers the ability to stay overnight on board the night train which was also forced to a stand still.

On tracks at destinations such as Åre, Luleå, Gothenburg and Stockholm, trains stood ready to go on Monday, awaiting the green light from the Swedish Transport Administration.

By early afternoon some north-bound trains were starting to roll again, but many departures were still left waiting to leave.

According to SJ’s website, travelers affected can rebook their tickets or get their money back.

The rail service advice is to keep looking on their website for the most recent updates about departures.

“And if you have an already booked ticket, you’ll receive a text message with information,” Magnus Andersson of the SJ press service told TT.

The stop in rail traffic has left many stranded and trying to find alternative routes home, putting pressure on long distance coach operators.

“People are standing everywhere wanting to get on the coaches. We are driving a much as we can manage,” said traffic head for coach company Y-buss, Peter Westh, to TT.

By Monday afternoon, power companies could still not give any guarantees about when the over 154,000 households across Sweden currently without electricity would get their power back.

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CLIMATE

Four dead as storms, floods and tornadoes wreak havoc across northern and central Italy

High winds, tornadoes and giant hail: extreme weather hit many parts of Italy's north and centre-north this weekend, leaving at least four holidaymakers dead and causing widespread damage. Weather alerts continue over the coming days.

Four dead as storms, floods and tornadoes wreak havoc across northern and central Italy
File photo: Marco Bertorello/AFP

Severe weather has been reported over the weekend everywhere  from South Tyrol down to the central region of Lazio around Rome, with at least four people killed in two separate incidents, and several reported missing.

In Tuscany, two girls aged three and 14 were reportedly killed on Saturday night when a tornado reportedly uprooted a tree which hit their tent at a campsite in Marina di Massa.

Two German tourists were killed on Sunday night during severe flooding on the Brenner state road near Bolzano, South Tyrol, the Ansa news agency reports. A family car collided with a lorry, killing two of the passengers; a 45-year-old father and 67-year-old grandmother. A seven-year-old boy and his grandfather reportedly survived, while the lorry driver was unhurt. 

The vehicles had been diverted onto the local road when the motorway was closed due to storms. The motorway has now reopened on Monday, however train lines in the area remain closed.

A 38-year-old man has been reported missing in the Varese area after being swept away by a swollen river.

The city of Verona is bracing for further flooding after being hit by multiple waves of bad weather since August 23rd, with high winds and giant hailstones also causing considerable damage in the area.

Severe damage was reported across much of the Veneto region, with the Vicenza and Belluno areas also hit particularly hard. The famed ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo in Belluno suffered landslides due to strong winds and heavy rain.

In the Vicenza area of Veneto a tromba d'aria (small tornado) flattened trees, fences and road signs and damaged buildings.

The bad weather reached neighbouring Lombardy with hailstones “the size of eggs” reported in Cremona and Mantova, and heavy rain and flooding in Alessandria.

And in Bergamo, firefighters had to clear roads made impassable by severe hail.

Meanwhile in parts of the south, fire crews have been battling blazes in woods and scrubland from southern Tuscany and Marche to Sicily after a hot, dry summer. 
 
Italy's Civl Protection department continued to issue weather warnings on Monday with orange (level two) alerts in place for Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige and Lazio.
 
 
Lower-level yellow alerts were also issued for Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and Tuscany.
 
With the wave of bad weather expected to spread south over Monday and Tuesday, yellow alerts were also issued for the regions of Abruzzo, Emilia Romagna, Marche, Molise, Puglia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria on Monday.
 

 

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