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Nooo! Rain and floods set to dampen Swedes' summer joy

The Local Sweden
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Nooo! Rain and floods set to dampen Swedes' summer joy
Rain in Sweden earlier this year. Photo: Hasse Holmberg/TT

A few days ago: scorching sun. Now: heavy rain and flood warnings. Introducing: Sweden in summer.

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Sweden officially entered summer in early May after temperatures reached double digits for more than five days in a row.

But just when the sun-starved Swedes had started making the best of the warmer weather, one of the most Swedish of all summer phenomena happened: rain.

National weather institute SMHI on Thursday issued a class-1 weather warning for heavy rainfall in large parts of eastern Sweden, from the coast north of Stockholm up to Gävle.

The alert is the least serious on a scale from one to three, but forecasters suggested that the rain could cause flooding and delays for commuters.

"It's already raining and it's going to get worse. In the next 24 hours we could get even more, up to 50 millimetres," meteorologist Sandra Andersson told Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet.

"It could lead to flooding and overflowing drains and basements. It could get difficult," she said.

READ ALSO: Swedish officials dance to make rain. Doesn't work

It was not clear on Thursday morning exactly which region was going to get hit the worst, but SMHI said in a warning on its website that some areas could expect as much as 70 millimetres, while others could see 50 millimetres of rain fall in less than 12 hours.

"There are some powerful streaks [of rain] so it could get worse in some places," said Andersson.

If you've got barbecue plans for this weekend, now is a good time to cancel them. The wet weather is set to stick around until early next week, when Swedes could see the sun returning to its rightful place in the sky.

"There will be no more [of the warm weather] this week. It could get somewhat warmer next week," said Andersson.

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