Blizzards paralyze much of Sweden-

– A large part of Sweden was brought to a standstill on Monday after heavy snowfall over the weekend, with the capital city of Stockholm hit particularly hard.

Motorists, some of whom had not yet switched to winter tires, were struggling due to heavy rain and snow on the roads, and several train departures were canceled due to delayed flights, local media reported.

On Sunday, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) issued yellow and orange alerts for southern Sweden due to the anticipated dangers in the wake of snowfall, and people were also advised to work from home on Monday if possible.

Schools in the southwestern city of Trollhattan decided to offer distance learning for nearly 3,000 high school students as all bus lines were cancelled.

The snow also affected power lines with outages reported in several areas. In the Kalmar region, some 300 km south of the capital, the power company E.ON deployed tracked vehicles and helicopters to fix power lines, Swedish Television (SVT) reported.

With almost a quarter of the country’s population, the Stockholm region was the hardest hit.

Around 1,600 track changes in and around the capital were clogged by 30-40 centimeters of wet snow and had to be cleared, a spokesman for the Swedish Transport Administration told SVT.

Blocked railways in the Stockholm region, which is a hub linking the north and south of the country, had a ripple effect on rail traffic in other regions.

Roads were also blocked by snow, fallen trees and branches, as well as immobile vehicles, the Dagens Nyheter (DN) daily reported.

“We give priority to roads where public transport, emergency services and major deliveries need clear roads,” Malinda Flodman, a spokeswoman for the municipal department of roads and traffic, told DN.

He also said that around ten snowplow vehicles had broken down under the heavy load and some vehicles were also damaged by lightning in the early hours of Monday.

With snow removal operations still underway at midday on Monday, SMHI forecast that snowfall in southern Sweden would continue throughout the day. ■

(Xinhua)