The bitter cold that has recently taken hold of northern Sweden has created problems in poorly maintained power lines. Power outages make the water in houses there freeze, and radiators, heaters, toilets stop working. Extended power cuts for up to 18 hours when the temperatures show -30 degrees Celsius (-22 F), have caused huge problems for hundreds of house owners near for instance Kiruna. This according to SVT’s news program Nordnytt.
”We’ve had fairly big problems in the southeast villages of Kiruna. There are many problems, and they have happened at the same time,” says Roger Lindmark, Communications Manager at power supplier Vattenfall in Luleå. According to Lindmark, the power is now back in these villages. Those who live there say that the maintenance of the network has been mismanaged for years.