Can you feel the chill? Sweden just had its coldest January night in 25 years

The Kvikkjokk-Årrenjarka weather station in northern Sweden recorded -43.6C overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday – Sweden’s coldest temperature in the month of January in 25 years.

Not only that, it was that particular weather station’s coldest temperature since records began in 1888, according to national weather agency SMHI.

This week is also the first time Sweden has seen temperatures drop below -40C since 2021.

“Across the whole of Västerbotten and Norrbotten counties, you can sum the weather up by saying it’s between -25 and -35 degrees, and it looks like the cold spell will last until the end of the week,” SMHI meteorologist Ida Dahlström told Swedish news agency TT on Wednesday. “It’s really, really cold.”

Overnight temperatures dropped below -40C at six weather stations in northern Sweden: Kvikkjokk-Årrenjarka, Nikkaluokta, Karesuando, Jäckvik, Mierkenis and Naimakka.

Skillinge in the south-east was the warmest place in Sweden on Wednesday morning, with residents of the fishing village basking in a balmy 2.5C.

But it’s not only northern Sweden that faces icy temperatures. SMHI has issued a yellow warning, the mildest warning on a three-point scale, for snow and wind in Stockholm and the southern regions of Skåne, Halland, Blekinge and large parts of Småland on Wednesday – as well as an orange alert in eastern Skåne and Blekinge, where up to 30 centimetres of snow is expected to fall in some areas.

In the Stockholm region, some areas can expect up to 20 centimetres of snow.

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This cold front is set to move south throughout Sweden in the run up to the weekend, where temperatures below freezing are predicted for the entire country.

Temperatures at Sweden's southernmost point, Smygehuk in Skåne, are expected to hit -14C on Saturday, after which the mercury is expected to slowly edge upwards.

There’s still a way to go though before Sweden’s coldest temperature record is broken. This was -52.6 degrees, measured in Vuoggatjålme in the Arctic Circle in February 1966, and is also the coldest temperature ever recorded in Europe, excluding Russia.