This weekend set to be the hottest Sweden has seen all year
After a disappointing spring for much of the country, this weekend brings with it hotter temperatures, with the mercury potentially hitting 27 or 28 degrees in Stockholm on Sunday.
Advertisement
"I expect a few barbecues will be brought out," SMHI meteorologist Kjell Lund told the TT newswire.
With a few exceptions, Saturday looks like it will be sunny for the entire country, with temperatures expecting to reach around 25C in the north and south of the country.
"Today [on Friday] we have a 20C boundary around Jämtland, Medelpad and further south," Lund said. "On Saturday we will see even warmer air coming in so we'll see at least 20C in pretty much all of the country."
Sunday will also be warm, with maximum temperatures of 27-28C in Stockholm and Uppsala.
"More so in the eastern parts of the country, but Jämtland and Medelpad will also see temperatures of up to 27C," he added.
The warmest day of the year so far was back in May, when Mora reported temperatures of 25.4 degrees. It looks ‒ at least for now ‒ like that record will be broken this weekend.
"It will definitely be warmer," Lund said.
Advertisement
SMHI issued a fire warning on Friday for grass fires in Sweden's mountain regions and forest fires in parts of eastern Götaland and southeastern Svealand. There is also a water shortage risk covering almost all of southern Sweden.
"The southwestern parts of the country already have a high risk of forest fires, and that is going to increase over the weekend."
Despite hotter temperatures in some areas during Sunday, the weather also looks set to be more changeable, particularly on the west coast where there could be some rain. A cold front is expected to come in from the west on Sunday night into Monday morning, with temperatures getting cooler from then onwards.
"We're going to see a real shift. It will get less stable and cooler up and down the country. It looks like things will get better around Midsummer, but it's still a bit uncertain," Lund said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Sweden
a day ago
- Local Sweden
This weekend set to be the hottest Sweden has seen all year
After a disappointing spring for much of the country, this weekend brings with it hotter temperatures, with the mercury potentially hitting 27 or 28 degrees in Stockholm on Sunday. Advertisement "I expect a few barbecues will be brought out," SMHI meteorologist Kjell Lund told the TT newswire. With a few exceptions, Saturday looks like it will be sunny for the entire country, with temperatures expecting to reach around 25C in the north and south of the country. "Today [on Friday] we have a 20C boundary around Jämtland, Medelpad and further south," Lund said. "On Saturday we will see even warmer air coming in so we'll see at least 20C in pretty much all of the country." Sunday will also be warm, with maximum temperatures of 27-28C in Stockholm and Uppsala. "More so in the eastern parts of the country, but Jämtland and Medelpad will also see temperatures of up to 27C," he added. The warmest day of the year so far was back in May, when Mora reported temperatures of 25.4 degrees. It looks ‒ at least for now ‒ like that record will be broken this weekend. "It will definitely be warmer," Lund said. Advertisement SMHI issued a fire warning on Friday for grass fires in Sweden's mountain regions and forest fires in parts of eastern Götaland and southeastern Svealand. There is also a water shortage risk covering almost all of southern Sweden. "The southwestern parts of the country already have a high risk of forest fires, and that is going to increase over the weekend." Despite hotter temperatures in some areas during Sunday, the weather also looks set to be more changeable, particularly on the west coast where there could be some rain. A cold front is expected to come in from the west on Sunday night into Monday morning, with temperatures getting cooler from then onwards. "We're going to see a real shift. It will get less stable and cooler up and down the country. It looks like things will get better around Midsummer, but it's still a bit uncertain," Lund said.
Local Sweden
14-05-2025
- Local Sweden
How to prepare for a water shortage in Sweden this summer
The Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU) has warned that large parts of southern Sweden are at risk of a groundwater shortage after a particularly dry autumn and spring. Advertisement What has happened? Sweden has seen an unusually small amount of precipitation over the past few months, which means groundwater levels are a lot lower in many areas than they usually are at this time of year. This has led to SGU issuing a water shortage warning for a number of regions in the south of the country. 'We normally see groundwater supplies filling up again over the winter, with the highest levels in April after the snow has melted and before the plants get going,' SGU hydrogeologist Calle Hjerne told The Local. 'But this year it was very dry as early as February, with almost no snow at all in the south of Sweden in February.' This all means that groundwater levels are currently much lower than they usually are in May. Which areas are affected? The affected areas are all in the south of the country, in Götaland and Svealand. More specifically, the warning covers Gotland, Kalmar, Blekinge and Skåne. Small reservoirs are affected in all the above areas, which will have knock-on effects for people with their own private water sources (egen brunn). In southern and eastern Götaland, the water level in larger reservoirs is lower than usual, which means that the municipal water supply could be affected in these areas. Advertisement Affected in what way? Small groundwater sources, like private wells or springs, could stop running or go completely dry, Hjerne said, or the quality of water could get worse. For municipalities, dwindling water supplies could mean that residents are told to save water, or only use water in cases where it is absolutely necessary. 'There are a number of municipalities in the south of Sweden where this is already the case,' he added. How can Sweden run out of water when there are so many lakes in the country? It might seem counterintuitive that a country like Sweden, home to Vänern, the largest lake in the EU, could potentially run out of water, but not all areas have access to lakes or other similar water sources. Essentially, there are two types of water source – surface water and groundwater, and not all municipalities have both sources. 'It's true that we have a lot of lakes, but they're not always exactly where we need water,' Hjerne said. 'Municipalities have adapted their water supplies to the conditions in their area.' Advertisement Stockholm, for example, gets a lot of its water from lake Mälaren, while Uppsala uses a mix of groundwater from Uppsalaåsen (which is technically an esker ridge) and surface water from the river Fyris. 'In Skåne, there's actually a long tunnel from the Bolmen lake, which is in Småland, where water is transported to the western parts of Skåne. So they import water to Skåne really.' Even if a municipality does have a good supply of surface water, groundwater quality is often better, Hjerne said. How long is the warning expected to be in effect? Sweden's groundwater levels are usually lowest in September, so Hjerne expects that the warning will be in place until at least then, even if Sweden sees an unusually wet summer. 'We're getting to the part of the year where there is a very low chance of there being significant refills, and that's also why we've issued this warning. Even if the rest of the season is very wet, it looks like we're going to have very low levels anyway.' Will it be extended to other parts of Sweden? SGU has water level predictions ranging from 30 days to a few months into the future, and although they don't know exactly what the weather will be like this summer, they're still able to predict the possible impact on water supplies. In all situations – normal, wet or dry weather – SGU expect more regions will see low water levels. 'Even if we have wetter weather than normal, we'll have lower levels in large parts of southern Sweden anyway,'' Hjerne said. 'Maybe a few more counties will have low water levels.' 'If the weather is normal then we predict we'll have to extend the warning to other counties.' If the summer is especially dry, then 'almost all' of Sweden would end up with lower than average groundwater levels. 'If we end up in that situation then there would be a lot more counties covered by a warning. And there would also be a lot of hosepipe bans in Sweden this summer. But we don't know what the weather will be like yet.' Advertisement Could parts of Sweden run out of water? Small water supplies could run dry, Hjerne said. As far as major municipal groundwater reservoirs are concerned, it's less likely that they will run out of water, but it could happen. Back in 2016, there were issues with the water supply on the island of Öland, Hjerne said, with the municipality driving tanks of water over from the mainland amid fears that the supply could run out. The chance of that happening again this year is small, he added, as the municipality has learned from previous years. 'They built a pipeline very quickly from the mainland to Öland,' he said. 'So that's an area where they saw this happen in 2016, and they're more prepared now.' Advertisement In general, he believes that Sweden is better prepared than it has been in the past. 'At SGU, we believe that more people are aware that there could be water supply issues, and I think that municipalities are aware of this and are better prepared too.' Waterworks could, however, put bans in place if demand outstrips supply. 'In that situation, the water hasn't necessarily run out, but the waterworks may not manage to produce at the pace needed to match usage. If there are very hot days at the beginning of summer, for example, everyone starts filling their pools or watering their lawns on the same day, then usage would be very high for a short period.' Is there anything I should do to prepare? If you have your own water source, then it's a good idea to measure the water levels if you can, so you're aware if they start to drop when compared with previous years. The best thing you can do on a personal level is to think about your water usage, Hjerne said, including simple changes like only running your washing machine or dishwasher on a full load. 'Take shorter showers, above all take a shower instead of a bath, don't let the water run. If you want a cold glass of water then fill up a jug and put it in the fridge instead of letting the water run until it goes cold – you might be throwing away two litres of water just to drink 200 millilitres.' 'We use a lot of water in Sweden. We use more than they do in Denmark, and there's no real reason for us to be doing that. So there are a lot of places we can cut down.' You should also keep up to date with potential hosepipe bans where you live. Just search bevattningsförbud and your city or municipality. It might be tempting to fill up some water tanks, but this doesn't really make a difference, Hjerne said. 'We want as much water as possible to be in the ground for as long as possible. It doesn't help to pump it up from your water source and put it in a tank, as that water is used now. And it's unlikely to be refilled.'
Local Sweden
12-05-2025
- Local Sweden
Forest fire warnings issued across eastern Sweden
Sweden's state weather forecaster SMHI has issued forest fire warnings for a swathe of eastern Sweden and a large part of Västra Götaland, following a long period of dry weather. Advertisement The agency said that there was a risk of fires breaking out in the countryside surrounding Stockholm and down a wide strip of eastern Sweden stretching from the capital down to the southern tip of Skåne. The forecaster has also issued a forest fire warning for a large triangle of Västra Götaland around Gothenburg, Trollhättan and Borås, as well as for the northern tip of Gotland. In its warning, the agency rated the risk of fires in the areas as "great", warning people in the areas to be "extremely careful when lighting fires and bonfires and when working with big machines outside." The warning has been issued for the eastern part of Sweden for all of Monday, from 9am to 8pm, and for Västra Götaland from 11am to 9pm. Advertisement SMHI's forest and grass fire warnings on Monday morning. Check the agency's website for up-to-date info. Graphic: SMHI The agency issued a report last week warning of low water levels in Sweden's lakes and rivers following a mild winter and an unusually dry spring. "The starting point we have going into early summer means that we currently assess that there is a risk of a summer with continued low water levels in lakes and lower flow in watercourses than normal, even if we receive normal rainfall and temperatures," SMHI hydrologist Hanna Pierrau wrote in a press release. A number of Swedish cities are covered by the fire warnings. Here are the exact areas affected: Forest fires: Parts of eastern Götaland and eastern Svealand (a long stretch on the east coast and a fair bit inland, from Ystad in the south to Uppsala in the north, including Stockholm, Karlskrona, Kalmar, Norrköping, Eskilstuna, Södertälje and Västerås) Parts of Västra Götaland County (a triangle stretching roughly from Mariestad in the north, to just north of Veddinge in the south, to just east of Stenungsund. Parts of Gothenburg are also included) North Gotland There are also some warnings in place for grass fires in northern Sweden, lasting until 7pm on May 12th: Ångermanland and Västerbotten as well as snow-free parts of Norrbotten and eastern Lapland (includes cities like Umeå, Luleå, Skellefteå and Örnsköldsvik). Dalafjällen, Härjedalen, western Jämtland and southwestern Lapland Advertisement Are there any fire bans in place? Despite the high risk of fires across much of the country, there was, at the time of writing, only one county with fire bans in place ‒ Blekinge county, where a ban was put in place on May 5th until further notice. This is a "fire ban" rather than a "stringent fire ban". This means that, if you live in Blekinge, you are not permitted to make a fire or light a barbecue using solid, combustible fuel in forests and other outdoor areas, outside of your own garden or designated barbecue places. You are allowed to use permanent spots for grilling by lakes, in forests, parks and at other beauty spots. You're also allowed to grill in your own garden. Be aware that these rules may change at short notice, so always check the website of your local authority if you're planning on lighting a fire. It may still be a good idea to avoid lighting a fire, even if a formal fire ban has been issued.
