Kvikkjokk was the coldest place in Sweden last Wednesday at with a temperature reaching as low as -43.6 degrees Celsius. But warm northwesterly winds increased the temperatures by about 40 degrees in a matter of hours.

Regional authorities report about 55 new cases since yesterday, with major outbreaks reported from both local retirement homes and among workers at LKAB mining company.

The weather station in Nikkaluokta recorded a frigid -39.5C, setting the record for the lowest temperature of the winter.

The Swedish Saami Association is demanding a comprehensive aid package from Stockholm after a season of unprecedented drought and wildfire ravaged the country, including key reindeer grazing areas.

Soaring temperatures are melting snow and ice from Kebnekaise’s southern peak, making the northern part of the mountain Sweden’s highest point.

A sleepy Lapland fire station is calling in help from all corners to fight the unprecedented wildfires sweeping the region.

Kebnekaise mountain in Sweden will no longer be the tallest in the country as the glacier on its highest peak melts rapidly in an unprecedented heat wave.

But first tests show very little new snow cover on the glacier from this past winter: ”The snow depth was only 1.2 metres — we had at least double that amount in previous years,” says Nina Kirchner, director of the Tarfala research station.