Hundreds of cars were stuck along highways in southern Sweden and Denmark on Thursday, authorities said, with heavy snowfall behind the gridlock as a cold snap hit the region.
In Sweden, military personnel were dispatched to assist rescue services working to aid stranded motorists between the towns of Horby and Kristianstad in Sweden’s far south.
After drivers who requested help were evacuated, the people who remained in the area were mostly lorry drivers, the emergency services on the scene announced at around 10:30am (0930 GMT).
In neighbouring Denmark, motorists were advised to avoid driving around Aarhus, the country’s second-largest city, where traffic jams have reached 30 kilometres.
In Denmark, up to half a metre of snow has fallen, the most since 2011, according to meteorological institute DMI.
In Norway’s far north, in Kautokeino, the temperature fell to minus 41.6C overnight.
In the Norwegian capital, temperatures are expected to fall to as low as minus 25C this weekend.
In Finland, a new seasonal cold record was registered in Enontekio in the country’s northwest, where the mercury hit minus 42.1C.
‘The roads are causing major problems many motorists have been stuck in queues for several hours’, Danish police said on X, formerly Twitter. ‘So think twice and stay at home’.
