Why 2014 was Sweden’s hottest year in history

With much of the country covered in snow and amid warnings of slippery icy roads on Tuesday, the long hot summer feels a very long time ago. But forecasters from Sweden’s weather agency SMHI say that 2014 has been the hottest year in the country for eighty years.

The agency looked at the mean daily temperature and found it was between 6.85 and 6.9C, compared to the previous record of 6.73C in 1934.

Sverker Hellström, a climatologist and meteorologist at SMHI told news agency TT that despite the current snow snap, Sweden was “moving towards getting milder weather during the final days in December”.

He described July as “one of the year’s most interesting weather months”, especially in northern and central Sweden. Katterjåkk, a small town or in Kiruna municipality, reached 27.8C. The settlement had not seen temperatures that high in nearly a century. Western Norrland experienced a woodland blaze.

“There was a big forest fire, which in itself was not caused by weather, but it occurred under very severe heat and drought,” he told TT.

Sweden’s experience is mirrored across much of Europe, with much of the continent currently experiencing its mildest winter for several hundred years.

A shortage of snow in the French Alps led to the ladies' and men's Alpine Skiing World Cup being moved from Courchevel in France to Sweden's Åre this month.

Wondering what the weather looks like in your corner of Sweden? Check out The Local's weather page here.