Snow in May? Arctic winds ruin spring for Sweden
Large parts of Sweden have experienced snow showers only a few days after thermometers registered the warmest temperatures of the year so far, with Arctic winds causing the spring weather to disappear.
Capital Stockholm was sprinkled by snow on Monday morning as sleet extended to the east of southernmost province Götaland, while in northern Sweden negative temperatures were registered well into the afternoon.
"It's virtually April weather we have here now in May," national weather agency SMHI's meteorologist Sofia Söderberg told news agency TT.
The reason for the chill is polar winds from the Arctic that have been moving south across the Nordic country, before they eventually end up near France. SMHI even have a class one weather warning (the least serious on a scale from one to three) for strong winds in coastal regions during Monday afternoon.
The west coast of Sweden has experienced the mildest of the chilly weather, but even then temperatures have been much lower than usual for this time of the year.
And the not so spring-like conditions are expected to stick around for the next couple of days, with the mercury set to be barely above zero for most of the country, and even in minus territory in some places.
"It'll get some degrees warmer day by day during the week, and at the weekend the temperature could be around 10 degrees in southern Sweden," Söderberg said.
Only a few days ago on Friday many Swedish towns were celebrating the warmest day of the year, with 23.9 degrees Celsius registered in Falun.
READ ALSO: Heat record broken in Sweden, but cold is returning
Comments
See Also
Capital Stockholm was sprinkled by snow on Monday morning as sleet extended to the east of southernmost province Götaland, while in northern Sweden negative temperatures were registered well into the afternoon.
"It's virtually April weather we have here now in May," national weather agency SMHI's meteorologist Sofia Söderberg told news agency TT.
The reason for the chill is polar winds from the Arctic that have been moving south across the Nordic country, before they eventually end up near France. SMHI even have a class one weather warning (the least serious on a scale from one to three) for strong winds in coastal regions during Monday afternoon.
The west coast of Sweden has experienced the mildest of the chilly weather, but even then temperatures have been much lower than usual for this time of the year.
And the not so spring-like conditions are expected to stick around for the next couple of days, with the mercury set to be barely above zero for most of the country, and even in minus territory in some places.
"It'll get some degrees warmer day by day during the week, and at the weekend the temperature could be around 10 degrees in southern Sweden," Söderberg said.
Only a few days ago on Friday many Swedish towns were celebrating the warmest day of the year, with 23.9 degrees Celsius registered in Falun.
READ ALSO: Heat record broken in Sweden, but cold is returning
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.