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WEATHER

Storm Otto to batter western Sweden from Friday afternoon

Storm Otto is due to hit the west coast of Sweden on Friday afternoon, reaching its peak in the evening and night with winds of between 27 and 31 metres per second, just short of hurricane strength. 

Storm Otto to batter western Sweden from Friday afternoon
Storm Nora battering the coast of Skåne in February 2022. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Swedish weather forecaster SMHI has issued an orange warning for northwest Skåne, southwest Kronoberg, western Halland and southwest Bohuslän, warning that buildings could be damaged, and trees blown down over roads and power lines. 

“There’s going to be about three to five hours when it will be at its absolute worst,” Therese Fogman, one of SMHI’s forecasters, told the TT newswire.

People living in western Sweden are being asked to tie down any loose objects in their gardens and to be careful when going outside. 

“You should be aware that there could be branches falling and objects blowing around in this wind,” Fogman said. 

Several train services in Skåne, Halland and Västra Götaland have been suspended on Friday and Saturday. SMHI is warning that buildings and forests could be damaged. 

All services are suspended between Helsingborg and Eslöv from 4pm, from Ystad to Simrishamn from 6pm, from Markaryd to Hässleholm from 8pm, and from Kristianstad to Karlskrona from 8.20pm. 

From 4pm, all train services between Uddevalla and Strömstad, Öxnered and Borås, Håkantorp and Gårdsjö, and Borås to Varberg.

Services will resume on all these lines from 12pm on Saturday. 

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WEATHER

Spring has arrived in Sweden! Officially, at least…

You may not believe us, but according to the meteorological definition, spring has reached southern and western Sweden.

Spring has arrived in Sweden! Officially, at least...

As of Wednesday evening, spring has officially arrived in Gothenburg, Malmö, Lund, Helsingborg, Halmstad, Visby, Karlskrona and Mariestad, according to Sweden’s national weather agency SMHI.

By their definition, it’s spring when average daytime temperatures stay above freezing for seven days in a row.

You then count backwards, so spring started on the first day of that week – meaning that the above towns were able to welcome spring as early as February 15th.

Sweden’s method of measuring seasons means not only that it can be several seasons on the same day in different parts of the country, but that some locations sometimes skip an entire season.

The long-term trend is for spring to arrive earlier and earlier as a result of climate change, but February 15th is formally the earliest date it can arrive. Before then it’s either winter or autumn.

Readers living in central or northern Sweden will have to wait a bit longer.

Spring normally reaches central Sweden by March and northern Sweden by April.

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