Flood alerts after heavy rain batters Sweden
UPDATED: Residents in southern Sweden were being warned of flooding on Monday.
Swedish national weather institute SMHI predicted during the night that 35 millimetres of rain would fall in less than three hours in the early hours of Monday as a thunderstorm swept in.
“There may be a risk of flooding in basements and streams. There may also be a lot of rain on roads. So if you're out driving you should be careful,” SMHI meteorologist Elisabeth Saarnak told the Aftonbladet tabloid.
The alert included southern counties Blekinge, Skåne, Halland, Kronoberg and Kalmar. By Monday morning the heavy rainfall had subsided in the region and was slowly moving north-east.
However, the damage was already done. Fire and rescue services said that they had already received at least 15 calls from homeowners in southern Sweden about flooding by 8.30am.
“It's mainly in Vellinge and Svedala. Svedala seems to be the worst hit,” fire and rescue officer Gustaf Sandell told the TT newswire. "I would imagine that there will be a few more calls in the morning."
The skies are unlikely to clear up until the weekend, said Saarnak, adding that any sun-starved residents or tourists in Sweden should head north to get a glimpse of that yellow thing in the sky.
"It looks like Norrbotten will have the nicest weather with only some showers and clouds. On Gotland there's also a somewhat lesser risk of showers," she told Aftonbladet.
Temperatures are expected to hover at around 15-22C.
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Swedish national weather institute SMHI predicted during the night that 35 millimetres of rain would fall in less than three hours in the early hours of Monday as a thunderstorm swept in.
“There may be a risk of flooding in basements and streams. There may also be a lot of rain on roads. So if you're out driving you should be careful,” SMHI meteorologist Elisabeth Saarnak told the Aftonbladet tabloid.
The alert included southern counties Blekinge, Skåne, Halland, Kronoberg and Kalmar. By Monday morning the heavy rainfall had subsided in the region and was slowly moving north-east.
However, the damage was already done. Fire and rescue services said that they had already received at least 15 calls from homeowners in southern Sweden about flooding by 8.30am.
“It's mainly in Vellinge and Svedala. Svedala seems to be the worst hit,” fire and rescue officer Gustaf Sandell told the TT newswire. "I would imagine that there will be a few more calls in the morning."
The skies are unlikely to clear up until the weekend, said Saarnak, adding that any sun-starved residents or tourists in Sweden should head north to get a glimpse of that yellow thing in the sky.
"It looks like Norrbotten will have the nicest weather with only some showers and clouds. On Gotland there's also a somewhat lesser risk of showers," she told Aftonbladet.
Temperatures are expected to hover at around 15-22C.
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