Swedish storm hits Nordic country, killing two

Two people have died in Sweden after a powerful winter storm swept through the Nordic country, disrupting travel and causing power outages.

The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute issued strong wind warnings for much of the northern half of the country after Storm Johannes hit.

A man in his 50s was struck and killed by a tree in the Kungsberget ski resort in the south of the country, local media and police reported, while regional utility Hemab said one of its employees died in an accident “on site”.

Tens of thousands of homes in Sweden, Norway and Finland were without power.

In Sweden, more than 40,000 households were affected by power outages and many rail services were canceled, Swedish news agency TT reported.

Several flight, rail and ferry services have been canceled in some Nordic countries.

Road and rail services were also disrupted by the storm.

In the Nordland region, one of Norway’s northernmost counties, fire services responded to more than 200 weather-related incidents, broadcaster NRK reported.

NRK said Storm Johannes cut power to around 23,000 homes in Nordland and a further 9,000 inland.

In Finland, the storm, known as Hannis, receded on Sunday morning but left more than 33,000 homes without power, public broadcaster Yle reported.

Flights at Kittila Airport in northern Finland were grounded after strong winds pushed a passenger plane and a smaller plane off the runway and into snowdrifts, the Helsinki Times reported.

The newspaper said that the Swiss Air passenger plane, carrying about 150 passengers, had just landed from Geneva and suddenly turned while taxiing. It added that the smaller jet, a 400XT model, which was on the ground at the same time, was also pushed off course by the wind.

There were no reports of injuries.

The Swedish Transport Administration announced that many train services have been suspended until noon on Sunday.