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WEATHER

Weather alert: ‘Extremely high risk’ of wildfires in parts of Sweden

Sweden’s weather agency warned of an “extreme” risk of forest fires in parts of the country, as helicopters were called in to water bomb a blaze south of Stockholm.

Weather alert: 'Extremely high risk' of wildfires in parts of Sweden
File photo of a firefighting helicopter. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

SMHI on Tuesday warned of a high or very high risk of forest fires in south-eastern Sweden, including areas such as Uppsala, Stockholm, Örebro, Norrköping, Jönköping, Karlskrona and Gotland. Locally, the agency described the risk as “extremely high”.

There’s also a high or very high risk of grass fires in parts of Norrland.

On Tuesday morning, firefighters used helicopters to drop water on a forest blaze between Hemfosa and Träsksjön in Haninge municipality south of Stockholm.

It was not known how the fire started. Fire crews were called out to fight it on Monday evening, and by noon on Tuesday most of it had been extinguished. No one was injured.

Fire bans are currently in place in large parts of the Blekinge, Kronoberg, Gotland, Västmanland, Stockholm and Uppsala regions.

The bans are issued by county administrative boards and the rules may vary, but a standard fire ban usually means that you are not allowed to light any fires, other than barbecues in your own garden or at a fixed grill site.

You can keep up to date with SMHI’s weather alerts here and fire bans here.

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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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