Queues, snow and rain await in the Easter traffic

There will not only be sun and spring weather during the Easter weekend. Both snow and rain are expected, while more people are traveling to visit loved ones.

The advice from the Swedish Transport Administration is to plan for queues and unstable weather before you set off.

When the Easter weekend is around the corner, many people take to the roads to visit summer cottages or pay the ski slope one last visit. This means more cars on the road.

– It usually becomes very concentrated because the whole country has some form of holiday and many people go out, especially in road traffic, which results in a few roads that have a lot of cars on them, says Bengt Olsson, press manager at the Swedish Transport Agency.

Enjoy the journey

He reminds, like every year, to plan the trip and be rested and make sure that both the car and you get energy and breaks.

– Regardless of where you are going, it may not be that often that you drive that far. Don’t stress, but let the journey be part of the holiday because then you might be able to relax a little and not make crazy decisions. Once in traffic, you must keep your distance and adjust your speed to the surface. The only thing you can be sure of is that the road conditions in our elongated country are not the same.

Most of the travel is expected on Maundy Thursday and Bengt Olsson lists a number of the roads that will be the busiest during the big weekend: E45 from Gothenburg and north towards Värmland and Jämtland, national highway 26 from Jönköping and national highway 70 from the Stockholm area up towards Dalafjällen, E22 from Östergötland down towards Kalmar and Öland and the E4 along the entire east coast and towards the Jämtlandsfjällen, among others.

– As is usually the case, it is the last ski holidays that have the most motorists, so what you can say is that you will not be directly alone on the roads there.

Unsettled weather is expected

According to SMHI, weather changes are expected in the southern part of the country when low pressure with snowfall moves west from Gotland and the Baltic Sea landscape. But mild temperatures can bring rain and also mean that it is not certain that the snow that does fall will be allowed to remain.

– If you compare with what has been, we are moving towards milder temperatures now and it is therefore not a smooch that will come but rather tame weather, says Emma Rosengren, meteorologist at SMHI.

According to Rosengren, the temperatures will vary between zero degrees and upwards of ten degrees. This means that the snow that is allowed to lie will melt and refreeze, especially on smaller roads.

Rain and more rain

The precipitation that passes from Maundy Thursday onwards is followed by a new front from the east with both rain and snowfall and this may affect the weekend’s egg hunt.

– Yes, the low pressure causes it a little. There have been uncertain forecasts that have changed and may change again. Very whimsical in other words. So it can vary and change a little during the day.

For the big return home day, Easter Monday, the forecast is also uncertain and the weather is expected to be variable. Trafikverket’s Björn Olsson raises a finger of warning that specified speeds can be difficult to maintain if there is a lot of snow or if the roads have patches of ice.

Some track work

The Swedish Transport Administration will also carry out some track work during the Easter weekend, but Olsson emphasizes that you can trust that the traffic will run as planned and that the canceled departures have already been adjusted in the timetables.

– But you have to be a little mentally prepared, especially if you are going to travel between Stockholm and Västerås or on the west coast, from Gothenburg down to Helsingborg. Keep an eye on announced changes, he says.

Facts

Something to think about in the Easter traffic

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