Today in Sweden: A round-up of the latest news
Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short round-up of the news in less than five minutes.
Swedish towns cancel Christmas markets
Christmas markets have been cancelled this year in several Swedish towns, due to the ongoing pandemic. Those include Stockholm's Old Town, Kulturen in Lund and Jamtli in Östersund, reports the TT news agency.
But some will go ahead with restrictions. Stockholm outdoor museum Skansen writes on its website that stalls will be spread out across the park rather than having one central Christmas market, but warns that plans could still change "depending on what happens in the rest of the world and the authorities' restrictions linked to Covid-19".
The traditional market at Hyltebruk in south-western Halland plans to adapt its Christmas season, writes Hallandsposten, with a limited number of stalls and market officials making sure that people are keeping their distance from each other.
Swedish vocabulary: Christmas market – julmarknad
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MORE ON THE LOCAL: The forgotten history behind Sweden's most bizarre Christmas traditions
The Christmas market in Stockholm's Old Town in happier times. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT
Swedish university exam goes ahead
A maximum of 27,600 people were allowed to sit this year's Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test (SweSAT, or högskoleprovet), which was held on Sunday after a government U-turn eventually permitted the test to go ahead.
At Stockholm University, one of the exam locations, the number of students in each room was limited, and exam invigilators were offered gloves and visors.
"It worked pretty well, but we had to tell people off occasionally when there was a queue to toilets and so on," Maria Kristoffersson, exam supervisor at Stockholm University, told TT.
Swedish vocabulary: exam supervisor – provansvarig
The Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test at Stockholm University on Sunday. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT
Weather forecast
More rain is expected to batter Sweden this week after a wet weekend.
Tomtabacken in south-eastern region Småland was particularly hard hit on Sunday, with 11.7 millimetres of rain in five hours. Kvikkjokk in northern Sweden meanwhile saw around seven centimetres of snow fall on Sunday, but temperatures are now expected to drop, which means any potential snowfall will turn into rain instead.
The weather forecast for the rest of the week predicts more rain in much of Sweden from north to south.
Swedish vocabulary: rain – regn
More rain is expected to fall in Sweden this week. Photo: Stina Stjernkvist/TT
Cost of school burnings revealed
A spate of school fires in the southern city of Lund in 2020 is expected to put a dent in the municipality's coffers to the tune of at least around a million kronor, reports public broadcaster SVT. That includes cleaning up the damage and demolishing gutted buildings.
Police held a 17-year-old teenager in early July over another suspicious fire in Lund, but later released him. A 27-year-old man was arrested in August on suspicion of starting a fire at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in nearby Alnarp.
Swedish vocabulary: fire – brand
We're trying a new thing! Some members have asked us for a short daily round-up of the news in Sweden, in addition to our other articles and features about life in Sweden. We would love to know what you think of this article. Is it useful and would you like to see it continue, or would you prefer a weekly round-up, or something else entirely? Please email [email protected] to let us know.
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Swedish towns cancel Christmas markets
Christmas markets have been cancelled this year in several Swedish towns, due to the ongoing pandemic. Those include Stockholm's Old Town, Kulturen in Lund and Jamtli in Östersund, reports the TT news agency.
But some will go ahead with restrictions. Stockholm outdoor museum Skansen writes on its website that stalls will be spread out across the park rather than having one central Christmas market, but warns that plans could still change "depending on what happens in the rest of the world and the authorities' restrictions linked to Covid-19".
The traditional market at Hyltebruk in south-western Halland plans to adapt its Christmas season, writes Hallandsposten, with a limited number of stalls and market officials making sure that people are keeping their distance from each other.
Swedish vocabulary: Christmas market – julmarknad
- MORE ON THE LOCAL: The forgotten history behind Sweden's most bizarre Christmas traditions
The Christmas market in Stockholm's Old Town in happier times. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT
Swedish university exam goes ahead
A maximum of 27,600 people were allowed to sit this year's Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test (SweSAT, or högskoleprovet), which was held on Sunday after a government U-turn eventually permitted the test to go ahead.
At Stockholm University, one of the exam locations, the number of students in each room was limited, and exam invigilators were offered gloves and visors.
"It worked pretty well, but we had to tell people off occasionally when there was a queue to toilets and so on," Maria Kristoffersson, exam supervisor at Stockholm University, told TT.
Swedish vocabulary: exam supervisor – provansvarig
The Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test at Stockholm University on Sunday. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT
Weather forecast
More rain is expected to batter Sweden this week after a wet weekend.
Tomtabacken in south-eastern region Småland was particularly hard hit on Sunday, with 11.7 millimetres of rain in five hours. Kvikkjokk in northern Sweden meanwhile saw around seven centimetres of snow fall on Sunday, but temperatures are now expected to drop, which means any potential snowfall will turn into rain instead.
The weather forecast for the rest of the week predicts more rain in much of Sweden from north to south.
Swedish vocabulary: rain – regn
More rain is expected to fall in Sweden this week. Photo: Stina Stjernkvist/TT
Cost of school burnings revealed
A spate of school fires in the southern city of Lund in 2020 is expected to put a dent in the municipality's coffers to the tune of at least around a million kronor, reports public broadcaster SVT. That includes cleaning up the damage and demolishing gutted buildings.
Police held a 17-year-old teenager in early July over another suspicious fire in Lund, but later released him. A 27-year-old man was arrested in August on suspicion of starting a fire at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in nearby Alnarp.
Swedish vocabulary: fire – brand
We're trying a new thing! Some members have asked us for a short daily round-up of the news in Sweden, in addition to our other articles and features about life in Sweden. We would love to know what you think of this article. Is it useful and would you like to see it continue, or would you prefer a weekly round-up, or something else entirely? Please email [email protected] to let us know.
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