As per reports, an Arctic blast brought record-low temperatures to northern Sweden and Finland on 03 January, along with heavy snowfall leading to traffic disruptions on Thursday (04 January).
• On 03 January, Kvikkjokk-Arrenjarka, in northern Sweden, recorded negative 43.6 degrees Celsius, while the municipality of Enontekiö in the far northwest of Finland recorded temperatures as low as negative 42.4 degrees Celsius.
• On Thursday (04 January), rescue services evacuated hundreds of people who were stuck in their vehicles amid heavy snowfall on the E22 road between Horby and Kristianstad in southern Sweden.
• On Thursday (04 January), flight operations were suspended while train services were disrupted due to very low temperatures across Northern Sweden. Bus routes in the north were cancelled, operations at Lulea airport in the North was halted as it was too cold to de-ice the planes.
• The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) predicts the extreme cold temperatures to continue over the next few days, while the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has issued warnings due to extreme cold temperatures till at least Saturday (06 January).