STOCKHOLM, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – Hundreds of cars were stuck along highways in southern Sweden and Denmark on Thursday, authorities said, with heavy snowfall behind the gridlock as a cold snap hit the region.
In Sweden, military personnel were dispatched to assist rescue services working to aid stranded motorists between the towns of Horby and Kristianstad in Sweden’s far south.
After drivers who requested help were evacuated, the people who remained in the area were mostly lorry drivers, the emergency services on the scene announced at around 10:30 am (0930 GMT).
Sweden’s armed forces using “tracked vehicles have picked up people from trapped cars and around 100 people are at the assembly point opened by Horby municipality,” where the temperature dropped to minus five degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit) at around 05:00 am, police said in a statement.
During the night of Wednesday to Thursday, food was provided to these people and a few cases of “illness were treated,” it added.
During the evening, almost 1,000 vehicles were trapped in a gridlock due to the snow, and the road was expected to remain closed until Friday, according to the Swedish Transport Administration.
Police have called on residents to avoid driving in the region.
In neighbouring Denmark, motorists were advised to avoid driving around Aarhus, the country’s second-largest city, where traffic jams have reached 30 kilometres (18.6 miles).
“The roads are causing major problems… many motorists have been stuck in queues for several hours”, Danish police said on X, formerly Twitter. “So think twice and stay at home”.
In Denmark, up to half a metre of snow has fallen, the most since 2011, according to meteorological institute DMI.
A lot of snow has fallen in Southern Norway. Traffic is on the E18 at Gaupemyr in Lillesand due to trouble with trailers in the eastbound lane.
Photo: Tor Erik Schroder / NTB (Photo by Tor Erik Schroder / NTB / NTB via AFP)
In Norway’s far north, in Kautokeino, the temperature fell to minus 41.6C overnight.
Schools remained closed in several municipalities in the south of the country following heavy snowfalls in recent days, and some were expected to stay closed on Friday.
Police have advised against driving and all trains between Oslo and Kristiansand have also been cancelled.
In the Norwegian capital, temperatures are expected to fall to as low as minus 25C this weekend.
In Finland, a new seasonal cold record was registered in Enontekio in the country’s northwest, where the mercury hit minus 42.1C.
