Total shutdown on E18: “No one should freeze to death”

— We will help those who are possibly stuck in cars, no one will freeze to death in Ørje, said Svein Walle in the Eastern Norwegian Police District to VG at 9pm on Monday evening.

Ørje is the first community you come to if you follow the E18 through Årjäng municipality to Norway. Stationary trucks with summer tires block the road to Värmland, writes VG.

— Some have probably been there for a very, very long time. We have been working on it all day without being able to solve it, says Walle.

Volunteers on quad bikes

Volunteers from the Red Cross and Norsk Folkehjelp have been called out to rescue the snowbound with necessities such as food, water and blankets.

On the Swedish side, E18 has been closed from the national border at Stocketjärn in both directions due to stationary trucks, the Swedish Transport Administration writes on its website. The road is expected to open at eight o’clock Tuesday morning.

Orange warning

Already on Monday morning it started to snow in parts of Värmland, Dalarna and Örebro counties. The snowy weather moves north and east, in over Gävleborg and further in over Dalarna.

An orange warning has been issued by SMHI for heavy amounts of snow in central Svealand and Gävleborg county, and in southwestern Svealand. Up to 30 centimeters of snow is expected until Tuesday morning.

A total of 92 traffic accidents had occurred in the Bergslagen region, of which 19 were accidents with reported personal injuries, the police wrote on their website at 21:22 on Monday. The Bergslagen region includes Värmland, Dalarna and Örebro.

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