Bus in boat rescue as rains hit Sweden

Bus passengers were involved in a dramatic boat rescue in western Sweden on Friday morning as heavy rains led to flooding on the E20 in Halland, with the meteorological office forecasting continued wet weather for the weekend.

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The driver of a bus operated by Västtrafik did not have time to notice that an underpass had been turn into a small lake on the main E20 road by Fjärås and Åsa in Halland in western Sweden.

The driver and his two passengers were able to hastily climb up to the roof of the bus and wait for help.

"They had to wait a while on the roof even after we arrived, as we didn't have a boat with us. First when a boat had arrived could be row out and collect them," said Hans Carlsson at the Räddningstjänsten emergency services in greater Gothenburg.

The underpass was then closed for traffic with plans to pump the water away before rains eased on Friday morning and the decision was taken to let the water drain away.

Sweden's meteorological office (SMHI) has forecast changeable weather for most areas of the country over the weekend with rainfalls expected on Friday and Saturday and some sunny spells on Sunday.

While much of Europe is bathed in sunshine and fires continue to ravage parts of Russia, much of southern and western Sweden is experiencing wet weather on Friday. The rains are set to push north through the day with some western areas experiencing rainfalls later, according to a forecast by SMHI meteorologist Gunilla Grafström.

Saturday is set to deliver more rain in northern and central Norrland and some areas of southern Götaland. The remainder of the country will however enjoy some sunshine with only the odd shower and temperatures of around 20-25 degrees Celsius.

While the risk of rain will persist through Sunday much of the country will enjoy warm, sunny weather as summer holidays begin to come to a close for many Swedes.

As work beckons next week, sunny weather will return to most areas with isolated showers and temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius.