Sweden sees coldest weather in 25 years as temperature drops to -43.6C

STOCKHOLM: Sweden on Wednesday recorded its coldest January night in 25 years, with a reading of minus 43.6 degrees Celsius in the far north as a cold snap hit the Nordics.

“To put that into perspective, that is the lowest January temperature in Sweden since 1999,” Mattias Lind, meteorologist at Sweden´s national weather agency SMHI, told AFP.

In January 1999, a temperature of minus 49 degrees Celsius (minus 56.2 Fahrenheit) was recorded in Sweden, which tied the record set in 1951. Lind said that Wednesday´s measurement was made at the Kvikkjokk-Arrenjarka station in Sweden´s far north.

“It is the lowest temperature that has been recorded in this specific spot since measurements began” in 1888, he said.

Several other stations recorded temperatures of below minus 40C in Sweden´s north.

While residents of the region are used to seeing freezing temperatures, the recent cold snap has forced local bus operators to suspend services, and train operator Vy said on Tuesday that it had cancelled all trains north of the city of Umea for several days.

Trains were also disrupted in neighbouring Finland, where a seasonal record of minus 38.7 Celsius was recorded Tuesday evening in the northern Lapland region.