Aircraft slides off runway as blizzard batters Sweden
A plane headed for Amsterdam slid off the runway at Landvetter airport due to the snow on Wednesday morning, and officials in areas hit by the snowstorm warned against heading out on the roads unless absolutely necessary.
In western Sweden, a snowstorm is causing issues on public transport, with national weather agency SMHI issuing a number of weather warnings for large areas of southwestern Svealand and western Götaland.
At Landvetter airport, a KLM plane slid off the runway and got stuck in the snow, according to Aftonbladet.
"The pilot couldn't stop when he was turning onto the runway, we've been sitting here since about 6.30," a passenger told the newspaper.
No one was injured in the incident, and another flight was set to fly passengers to Amsterdam later in the afternoon.
"The storm is very strong," SMHI meteorologist Charlotta Eriksson told TT newswire.
"The bad weather has already moved in over western Sweden with snow and wind, and it will move to the northeast throughout the day," she said.
"But there's more wind and more snow in the west than what's expected for the Stockholm region later today."
There could be between 10 and 20 centimetres of snow in some areas, maybe up to 25 in parts of Bohuslän, which is expected to cause issues on the roads.
The Transport Administration has articulated vehicles on standby in Gothenburg and Uddevalla. This is in order to avoid a similar situation to that seen on the E22 road in Skåne in the beginning of January, where around 1,000 cars were stuck in the snow, with some drivers stuck for 20 hours.
"I'm very happy we've been able to receive this support as it will make things much easier if the weather situation makes it more difficult for important transport or rescue services to get around," Uddevalla rescue service head Markus Green wrote in a press statement.
Orange warnings are, at the time of writing on Wednesday morning, in place for northeastern Ångermanland, southern Västerbotten along the coast, Bohuslän and western Dalsland, and large parts of northern Halland and southwestern Västergötland.
There are also yellow warnings, which are comparatively less serious, in place for eastern Ångermanland, Stockholm and Uppsala, large parts of south-western Svealand and northern Dalsland, parts of southern and western Götaland, northern Värmland and large parts of Dalarna, and a warning of wind and snow in the alpine region between Jämtlandsfjällen and Norrbottensfjällen.
EXPLAINED:
People living in these regions should be prepared for public transport delays and cancellations, limited accessibility on roads where the snow hasn't yet been cleared, possible power outages which SMHI says could also affect mobile networks for communication.
Police press spokesperson Hans-Jörgen Ostler told local newspaper Göteborgs-Posten that driving in affected areas should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
"If you need to head out despite this, it's a smart idea to pack a thermos with a warm drink, as well as a jacket or blanket if you get stuck in your car. Then you'll be all right for a while," he said.
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In western Sweden, a snowstorm is causing issues on public transport, with national weather agency SMHI issuing a number of weather warnings for large areas of southwestern Svealand and western Götaland.
At Landvetter airport, a KLM plane slid off the runway and got stuck in the snow, according to Aftonbladet.
"The pilot couldn't stop when he was turning onto the runway, we've been sitting here since about 6.30," a passenger told the newspaper.
No one was injured in the incident, and another flight was set to fly passengers to Amsterdam later in the afternoon.
"The storm is very strong," SMHI meteorologist Charlotta Eriksson told TT newswire.
"The bad weather has already moved in over western Sweden with snow and wind, and it will move to the northeast throughout the day," she said.
"But there's more wind and more snow in the west than what's expected for the Stockholm region later today."
There could be between 10 and 20 centimetres of snow in some areas, maybe up to 25 in parts of Bohuslän, which is expected to cause issues on the roads.
The Transport Administration has articulated vehicles on standby in Gothenburg and Uddevalla. This is in order to avoid a similar situation to that seen on the E22 road in Skåne in the beginning of January, where around 1,000 cars were stuck in the snow, with some drivers stuck for 20 hours.
"I'm very happy we've been able to receive this support as it will make things much easier if the weather situation makes it more difficult for important transport or rescue services to get around," Uddevalla rescue service head Markus Green wrote in a press statement.
Orange warnings are, at the time of writing on Wednesday morning, in place for northeastern Ångermanland, southern Västerbotten along the coast, Bohuslän and western Dalsland, and large parts of northern Halland and southwestern Västergötland.
There are also yellow warnings, which are comparatively less serious, in place for eastern Ångermanland, Stockholm and Uppsala, large parts of south-western Svealand and northern Dalsland, parts of southern and western Götaland, northern Värmland and large parts of Dalarna, and a warning of wind and snow in the alpine region between Jämtlandsfjällen and Norrbottensfjällen.
EXPLAINED:
People living in these regions should be prepared for public transport delays and cancellations, limited accessibility on roads where the snow hasn't yet been cleared, possible power outages which SMHI says could also affect mobile networks for communication.
Police press spokesperson Hans-Jörgen Ostler told local newspaper Göteborgs-Posten that driving in affected areas should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
"If you need to head out despite this, it's a smart idea to pack a thermos with a warm drink, as well as a jacket or blanket if you get stuck in your car. Then you'll be all right for a while," he said.
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