Friday and Saturday have offered strong winds in combination with snowfall interspersed with rain in the mountains.
The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) has issued orange warnings – the second highest on the scale – for the Lapland mountains and the northernmost Jämtland mountains from 21:00 on Saturday evening. People are strongly advised not to go out into the mountains.
In addition to the fact that it can be difficult to move and orient oneself, erect and anchor tents, the risk of frostbite is high. Rescue operations can also be risky and take a long time, SMHI writes on its website.
The warnings are valid until 21.00 Sunday evening.
Risk of avalanches
At the same time, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency warns of avalanche danger in western Vindelfjällen and southern Lapland, southern Jämtland and western Härjedal mountains with ski resorts such as Funäsfjällen, Hemavan, Kittelfjäll and Åre.
In the western Vindel mountains and the southern Lapland mountains, there is a warning of significant risk, a three on the five-point scale.
"We expect avalanches to occur spontaneously. Now the weather is quite bad, so there are probably not that many people who are out where there are avalanches, but if you are, it is easy to start them yourself, says Petter Palmgren at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's avalanche forecast service.
In the other areas, a yellow warning for moderate risk applies, a two on the scale.
"Be Watchful"
"The general advice is that during this storm, and the day after, steep terrain should be avoided. Even in the days that follow, you have to be very vigilant," says Petter Palmgren.
Heavy precipitation, strong winds and mild weather increase the risk of avalanche accidents in the short term, which are almost always triggered by humans when the snow cover is weak. Seen over an entire winter, however, the snow becomes harder and more durable in the long run, according to him.
In addition to the orange weather warnings, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) has issued milder yellow gale warnings for very large parts of the waters around the Swedish coasts.
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Avalanche expert Mattias Tarestad at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency answers what is actually true or false about avalanches. Photo: SVT/TT