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Thousands without power after heavy snowfall

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Thousands without power after heavy snowfall

Snow chaosSweden's snow chaos continued into a second week, suggesting that this could be a long, cold winter. 24,000 homes woke up without electricity on Tuesday morning, according to Dagens Nyheter, because of problems caused by heavy snow and high winds. In Sörmland around 8,400 homes were without electricity.

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Svenska Dagbladet reported that even Arlanda Airport had been affected by the storms with 32 flights being cancelled.

Uppsala and Stockholm were worst hit with 18,000 homes without electricity. SvD blamed "wet snow and strong gusts", which had pushed trees onto power lines.

"Heavy wet snow and strong winds are out worst enemies," a spokesman for the electricity company Vattenfall told TT.

According to SvD, Vattenfall couldn't guarantee when the power would be restored. Staff worked through the night to repair the faults but different power lines are still going down.

DN was also rather gleefully promising "Traffic Chaos" for Tuesday, particularly in the Stockholm area as commuter trains struggle in the snowy weather.

Stockholm City drew readers' attention to the "long queues in hospital emergency rooms" following a number of traffic incidents. Two people were taken to hospital after a bus slid off the road between Ösmo and Sorunda and ended up in a ditch, while just north of Sigtuna a car slid into the oncoming traffic. Two adults and a child were taken to hospital with one of the drivers said to be suffering from "very serious injuries".

Just to reassure everyone, DN reminded readers that, "It's unusual but not that unusual that winter hits hard in November". Still, the recent spate of mild winters have meant Swedes are getting used to the first real snowfall coming around Christmas and the New Year, particularly in the south of the country.

All the same, DN, gazing into its crystal ball, wheeled out a weather-boffin who guardedly stated that "it looks like the wintry weather is going to hold for the next five days or so, but after that it's hard to tell".

And to help readers who were struggling under the winter chill - or to rub salt into the wounds - DN's net edition reminded Swedes of the delights to be found in Bangkok and Buenos Aires, as well as the usual travel links to an array of sunny destinations.

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