Elvira Lundgren, a Swedish social media influencer, froze the internet (almost literally) with a recent video showcasing her hair transformed into a glistening ice crown after stepping outside in the -30 degree Celsius depths of northern Sweden.
Lundgren's viral clip serves as a chilling reminder of the severe weather gripping the country, with temperatures plummeting to bone-numbing extremes in some regions. The icy onslaught isn't just a source of online amusement; it's causing widespread disruption and hardship for many Swedes.
"Temperatures have reached -30 degree Celsius, and I just had to do a little experiment," she wrote in the caption of the video.
Watch the video here:
Social media platforms are becoming flooded with bizarre tales of the arctic blast's impact, from frozen car doors and beardcicles to pets sporting impromptu fursicles. While Lundgren's frozen mane might grab the headlines, it's a stark reminder of the real-world challenges posed by this frigid episode.
Meanwhile, Sweden on Wednesday recorded its coldest January night in 25 years, with a reading of minus 43.6 degrees Celsius in the far north as a cold snap hit the Nordics.
"To put that into perspective, that is the lowest January temperature in Sweden since 1999," Mattias Lind, a meteorologist at Sweden's national weather agency SMHI, told AFP.
In January 1999, a temperature of minus 49 degrees Celsius (minus 56.2 Fahrenheit) was recorded in Sweden, which tied the record set in 1951.
Lind said that Wednesday's measurement was made at the Kvikkjokk-Arrenjarka station in Sweden's far north.
"It is the lowest temperature that has been recorded in this specific spot since measurements began" in 1888, he said.
Several other stations recorded temperatures below minus 40 °C in Sweden's north.
While residents of the region are used to seeing freezing temperatures, the recent cold snap has forced local bus operators to suspend services, and train operator Vy said Tuesday that it had cancelled all trains north of the city of Umea for several days.
