Thunder, floods and downpours hit central Sweden

Torrential rain came down on central Sweden on Wednesday, with a hailstorm battering Linköping and Stockholm.

As The Local reported on Wednesday, national weather agency SMHI had issued a yellow warning for the region.

According to regional newspaper Corren, roads and viaducts flooded and cars got stuck in the water in Norrköping.

“So far we’ve got Gladhammar with 32 millimetres of rain, Norrköping with 29 and Stockholm with 22,” SMHI meteorologist Emma Rosengren told the TT newswire.

A thunderstorm also caused power blackouts in several parts of the country, including the Dalarna and Örebro regions.

Swedish vocabulary: hail – hagel

Sweden’s cleanest beaches in summer 2024 revealed

Eight Swedish beaches and 13 harbours have qualified this year for the international Blue Flag scheme, which is awarded to beaches and small ports with a high level of environmental friendliness, water quality and safety.

For a bathing spot to qualify for the EU scheme, more than 200 people must swim there a day on average during the summer season. The local municipality is then responsible for checking the water quality and posting the results up on a sign at the beach.

The main factor that usually sets Blue Flag beaches and harbours in Sweden apart from the rest is their environmental education work, for example by informing visitors of nearby natural resources.

You can find a map of all the Blue Flag locations here.

Swedish vocabulary: a beach – en strand

Sweden’s dollar millionaires buck the global trend

After falling during the pandemic, the number of dollar millionaires in the world is again increasing, according to Capgemini’s World Wealth Report. 

But Sweden is seeing the opposite trend, reports TT, which has read the report. The number of dollar millionaires in Sweden fell 0.6 percent last year, whereas they in Denmark and Norway increased by 4.3 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

The collective wealth of Swedish dollar millionaires (around 347.4 billion dollars) also decreased in 2023, by 0.5 percent. This was mainly due to the higher cost of interest rates and inflation.

Swedish vocabulary: a millionaire – en miljonär

Sweden finishes counting EU election votes

Sweden has now completed the preliminary count of all its votes in the EU election.

The difference for the parties is minimal compared to the preliminary result that was announced on election day, but the new figures do show that Sweden had an election turnout of 53.4 percent, which is still a lower turnout than in 2019 when 55.3 percent voted.

The votes will now be double checked by the county administrative boards. After they’ve recounted all of them, as is standard procedure, the Election Authority will make the formal decision on the allocation of seats and who Sweden will send to the European Parliament.

The final result is expected to be announced on Friday, but it’s not expected to change much compared to this.

Swedish vocabulary: a difference – en skillnad

Swedish work permits rejected over salary threshold increase by almost 2,000 percent

The number of Swedish work permits rejected because the applicant’s salary is too low has increased by almost 2,000 percent since the country tightened the rules last year, according to figures supplied to The Local by the Migration Agency.

A total of 670 work permit applications since Sweden raised the salary threshold for receiving a work permit have been denied (including 605 first-time applications and 65 renewals) because the applicant’s salary didn’t meet the new requirements.

That’s approximately an average of 96 rejections a month – up from fewer than five monthly rejections for the same reason in the seven months before November 1st.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s rejection rate of work permit renewals (for any reason) has almost doubled.

Swedish vocabulary: low – låg