Freeze in Europe’s Far North Unleashes Chaos as It Sweeps South

(Bloomberg) -- The deep freeze gripping Europe’s northernmost region is edging south, paralyzing transport systems and pushing power prices to record levels.

The icy conditions, which produced the coldest January for 25 years in parts of Sweden near the Arctic Circle, will spread to Nordic capitals over the weekend. Helsinki and Stockholm are forecast to see lows around -20C, while Oslo is set for a minimum of -28C on Friday, according to Maxar Technologies Inc.

Finland asked citizens to conserve power to avoid outages as prices surged to an all-time high. Freezing temperatures and heavy snow are closing roads and disrupting train services across the region, with an unusual number of cancellations. Finland’s state-owned train operator VR is canceling about 20 long-distance services per day through the weekend.

“Our trains have not properly defrosted and need extra de-icing and maintenance,” said Piia Tyynila, director of long-distance traffic at VR.  

Half of Finland’s roads face difficult conditions, according to state-owned Fintraffic said. A major road in southern Sweden, where some drivers were rescued by the military after more than a 1,000 cars got stuck on Wednesday and Thursday, will only reopen later this afternoon. 

While the likelihood of an electricity shortfall is currently small, Finland’s grid manager continues to operate in a state of heightened readiness. 

Finnish power prices for Friday surged 290% to a record €890.54 per megawatt-hour. They fell back to €167.33 for Saturday, which is still extremely high for a weekend. About 17% of Finland’s consumption was covered by imports from Sweden, Estonia and Norway. 

Sweden, typically a major exporter, is importing electricity from both Germany and Poland. 

Freezing conditions will also engulf other parts of western Europe over the coming week. Temperatures in Berlin will plunge to as low as -8C by Tuesday, while Paris will be -4C on Wednesday, according to Maxar.

“By the mid to latter parts of the time frame, strong cold builds across the continental region,” Maxar said in a daily report. 

That follows the extreme weather brought to the region earlier this week by Storm Henk, with torrential rain and flooding from the UK to Germany and northern France. A 73-year-old man was found dead in his partially submerged car near Nantes in northwestern France.

On Thursday evening, water levels at Colwick on the Trent, the UK’s third-longest river, climbed close to the record reached more than 23 years ago, according to government data. While water levels on the Trent are now receding, more than 200 flood warnings remain in place across the country, including for the Severn and Thames rivers.

The flood situation is also very serious in Germany, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, citing Transport Minister Volker Wissing.

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