Snow continued to barrel down over the country overnight, especially in southeastern Sweden, leading to a third day of multiple train, bus and flight cancellations and delays. Police also reported a surge in traffic accidents.

Reports of accidents and collisions poured in from the heavily trafficked E4 road south of Stockholm.

“I don’t know exactly how many accidents we’re talking about. It’s super slippery and cars are hitting each other in both directions, and there are many vehicles involved,” police spokeswoman Eva Nilsson told Swedish news agency TT.

“Don’t go out there with a car, stay home,” Nilsson said.

On the eastern island of Gotland, the wind was pushing the snow in over the roads at a speed that it was getting difficult for ploughing machines to keep the roads open.

In Skåne, in the south, train traffic between Ystad and Simrishamn again came to a total standstill, and number of buses were also cancelled. Many trains were also cancelled in the southern regions of Östergötland and Småland.

Malva Lindborg, a meteorologist at the national weather agency SMHI, said that while parts of the country would get virtually no snow on Wednesday – but still be subject to the cold and strong winds – other parts would get between 5-10 centimetres of snow.

She said the intense snowfall was expected to die down during the day.

Authorities also issued avalanche warnings in some popular skiing areas, including in parts of Vindelfjällen, Jämtlandsfjällen and Härjedalsfjällen.