An incredible video gives an idea of just how severe the cold snap that is gripping northern Europe truly is. The clip, shared on TikTok by creator Helene Skyberg and filmed in Norway, shows a woman battling through thick fresh snow to reach another pile of snow.
With the snow almost reaching her hips, she starts tearing down huge chunks of it from the pile. Only after several seconds, when a frozen window emerges, it appears clear she is trying to free her car.
Asked by a fellow TikTok user how deep the snow was, the creator replied: “At the point of the video we had about 80cm, now we’re at 120, more [in] some places I’m sure.”
After being wished well by other TikTokers, Ms Skyberg added she felt “blessed to not have lost electricity in our house”. This short clip provides a glimpse into what many living in Nordic Europe have been experiencing this week.
As noted by the TikTok user, many in southern Norway have lost power. The large quantity of snow falling also forced the closures of many schools and after-school programmes.
Across Norway, temperatures have been consistently below the zero. In the early hours of Sunday, Oslo recorded -22C.
Temperatures in neighbouring Sweden have dipped even more. On Wednesday night, Sweden marked the coldest January since 1999 after the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute’s northernmost weather station in Kiruna municipality recorded on January 3 -43.8C.
Speaking to local news outlet Aftonbladet, SMHI meteorologist Linus Karlsson commented: “That’s cold, to say the least.” As much as it’s happening in Norway, Sweden is also experiencing huge issues linked to the relentless snowfall.
Last week, in the Skane area of southern Sweden, people in around 1,000 vehicles crossing the main E22 road remained stuck for more than 24 hours.
Rescuers worked through the night to free the motorists, who had to temporarily abandon their cars.
The plummeting temperatures have also hit Finland and Denmark – where on Wednesday a snowstorm left drivers trapped on a motorway near Aarhus, in the northern part of the country.
This exceptional cold snap may last for several more days, according to an expert.
Tore Furevik, director of the environmental Nansen Center in Bergen, told sciencenorway.no: “It’s not unlikely that the whole of January will be colder than what we are used to.”
