Sweden hit by blast of late winter snow
A powerful, late-season snowstorm caused a number of traffic headaches in parts of western and central Sweden on Friday.
Snow began falling early on Friday morning in Värmland in western Sweden, and by lunchtime police had received 13 reports of traffic accidents and two other areas experiencing major delays, according to the Värmlands Folkblad newspaper.
The delays, one on the E45 motorway near Valnäsbacken and the other on the E18 at Bodalsbackarna, were caused by two separate jackknifed trucks blocking each road.
No accidents with serious injuries were reported, with most incidents involving vehicles skidding off roads.
“We haven’t had the resources to send police out for each call, so emergency services have had to help us deal with some of the accidents,” police spokesperson Mats Persson told the newspaper.
Along E45 in the direction of Säffle, nearly 20 trucks were at a standstill and police warned motorists to avoid the road if at all possible.
The traffic jam had loosened somewhat by midday, but traffic flow remained limited.
Meteorological agency SMHI issued Class I warnings for both Värmland County and neighbouring Örebro County on Friday, forecasting strong winds and as many as 10 centimetres of snow to fall before the storm passed through the area.
Further south near Ölsremma, a woman was injured when her car flipped over due to icy conditions, the Borås Tidning (BT) newspaper reported.
“It’s really slick and people should drive like they have an egg under the gas pedal,” police spokesperson Bo Dahleman told the newspaper.
Local bus service in Borås was also affected by the snow-covered roads with some buses having trouble driving up Åsbogatan.
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Snow began falling early on Friday morning in Värmland in western Sweden, and by lunchtime police had received 13 reports of traffic accidents and two other areas experiencing major delays, according to the Värmlands Folkblad newspaper.
The delays, one on the E45 motorway near Valnäsbacken and the other on the E18 at Bodalsbackarna, were caused by two separate jackknifed trucks blocking each road.
No accidents with serious injuries were reported, with most incidents involving vehicles skidding off roads.
“We haven’t had the resources to send police out for each call, so emergency services have had to help us deal with some of the accidents,” police spokesperson Mats Persson told the newspaper.
Along E45 in the direction of Säffle, nearly 20 trucks were at a standstill and police warned motorists to avoid the road if at all possible.
The traffic jam had loosened somewhat by midday, but traffic flow remained limited.
Meteorological agency SMHI issued Class I warnings for both Värmland County and neighbouring Örebro County on Friday, forecasting strong winds and as many as 10 centimetres of snow to fall before the storm passed through the area.
Further south near Ölsremma, a woman was injured when her car flipped over due to icy conditions, the Borås Tidning (BT) newspaper reported.
“It’s really slick and people should drive like they have an egg under the gas pedal,” police spokesperson Bo Dahleman told the newspaper.
Local bus service in Borås was also affected by the snow-covered roads with some buses having trouble driving up Åsbogatan.
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