Storm ‘Emil’ barrels north over Sweden

The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, SMHI, issued a Class 2 warning for western and southern Sweden on Tuesday evening, as the new storm approached.

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“The warning is limited to the west coast during Wednesday morning and the remainder of the area over the course of the day,” said forecaster Annette Berglund to news agency TT.

A Class 2 warning is classified as weather which could pose a danger to the public, cause major damage to property and major disruptions in essential services.

When the storm reached Sweden’s west coast overnight, it was in such strength that the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) immediately closed two bridges in the area.

By then, the winds had reportedly reached 31 metres per second in Uddevalla and Gothenburg.

“The wind will lose in force, but it will be windy all day while the low pressure area moves east,” Berglund said.

Ferry traffic between the Baltic island of Gotland on the east coast and the mainland was halted already on Tuesday as a precaution.

At midnight, rail traffic on eleven routes in Skåne County in the south were closed, and the transport administration is on alert to close more, should it be deemed necessary.

In Denmark, Emil reached unexpected force late on Tuesday evening, where winds of 31.2 metres per second were noted; the strongest winds in Denmark since 2005, according to local paper Ekstrabladet.

Sweden’s three main power companies; Eon, Vattenfall and Fortum announced around 5am on Wednesday that more than 15, 000 customers had their power cut off in southern and western Sweden, due to the storm felling trees over power lines.