Swedish weather agency issues snow warning

The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) warned Swedes to brace for snow and heavy winds across much of the country on Tuesday evening and Wednesday.

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The class 1 snow warning applies from Blekinge in the southeast and extends northward across the almost the entire country.

In addition, the agency issued a class 1 gale warning for the entire Swedish coastline, save for a small sliver of the country's southernmost coast.

SMHI estimates that the central and eastern parts of Svealand in the middle of the country may receive up to 5 cm of wet snow on Wednesday.

Many parts of eastern Götaland in the south may also receive similar amounts of wet snow.

From Gävleborg on the east coast inland and northwards, snowfall is expected as early as Tuesday evening, with 5 cm of newly fallen snow expected overnight.

"A low-pressure area has moved over Sweden, resulting in unstable weather with rain and showers falling over the country's southern half," SMHI meteorologist Anders Wettergren said in a statement.

"Another precipitation area with snowfall will come in over the mountains and pass eastward over Norrland in the evening and overnight."

Northwesterly winds will also bring cooler air. The cold air on Wednesday will affect the weather as it blows towards southern Sweden and the expected rain may turn into wet snow in many places.

On Thursday, Sweden will be surrounded by a number of small rotating low-pressure systems. The northernmost low-pressure system will dump snow in the far north of the country, while the southernmost system will result in rain in southern Götaland before turning into a touch of snow in the evening.

The rest of the country will benefit from a sunny day, but it will turn cold, with temperatures below freezing in the north and in the single digits in the south.

The end of this week will continue with several small low-pressure fronts passing through the country with rain and snow, followed by lots of sun.

Temperatures are expected to once again fall below freezing throughout the country at night, dipping as low as minus 15 to 20 degrees Celsius in the far north.

Thermometers in the south of the country are expected to read 2 to 5 degrees in the south during the day, with temperatures remaining below freezing in the north.

At the start of next week, a major low-pressure system will move in over Sweden.