Stockholmers and tourists alike spent Thursday and Friday basking in temperatures of up to 19.5C and posting their sunny photos on social media.
Last day in Stockholm. Perfect weather. pic.twitter.com/YQpcwendm3
— Natalia Burina (@Nale) May 5, 2016
Meanwhile meteorologists announced that the capital had officially danced into a new season.
“With great certainty we can say that Stockholm has reached meteorological summer time,” Marcus Sjöstedt, a meteorologist at national weather institute SMHI told Swedish newswire TT.
Swedish forecasters officially classify the start of summer as when temperatures are above 10C for more than five days in a row. While some towns and cities have already sporadically enjoyed peak temperatures in the high teens for weeks, nowhere in the country had enjoyed such a long spell of relatively warm temperatures until May 5th.
However the hottest spot in the Nordic nation on Thursday was Hästveda in Skåne, in southern Sweden, with mercury levels reaching 21C.
Meteorologists predict that temperatures could race up even higher in the coming days, peaking at around 23C in the Swedish capital on Monday and around 20C across most of the southern region, which is set to follow Stockholm's lead and formally embrace the summer in the coming days.
Northern Swedes are also enjoying higher than average temperatures, with highs of 12C recorded close to the Arctic circle on Thursday and up to 22C predicted in Luleå and Umeå on Sunday.
The warm weather is a relief to the many Swedish residents who were forced to endure a string of damp and grey public holidays last summer and this year experienced an unpredictable and sometimes even snowy spring.
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