Sweden hit by extreme snow in year’s first storm, trips to US fall by 21 percent, government calls for mental health education in schools and more news from Sweden on Friday.
Sweden hit by extreme snow and strong winds
The first storm of the year, Storm Anna, has already hit Sweden, with Gävleborg north of Stockholm the worst-hit area. Sweden’s weather agency SMHI issued a red weather warning over the weekend and thousands of households are without power, after the area was hard hit by storm Johannes last weekend.
A number of weather warnings remain in place on Friday, with two orange warnings for snow combined with wind for large parts of Gävleborg, as well as southern Gästrikland and northern Uppsala. The first is in place until 10am on Friday, while the second is in place until 9pm.Â
There are also two yellow weather warnings in place for snow combined with wind. The first, covering the coast of Gävleborg, is expected to last from 10am on Friday until 6pm on Saturday, while the second, covering northeastern Svealand, is already in effect and is expected to last until 9pm on Friday.
The police have issued a statement encouraging the public to take weather warnings seriously as the weather could cut off roads, cause phone network outages and delay emergency services. The Transport Administration has asked people in all affected areas to stay home, and public transport in affected areas has been cancelled.
Swedish vocabulary: oväder ‒ storm
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Property prices fell in 2025
Property prices fell by an average of one percent in December last year, with the total figure for 2025 as a whole showing a price drop of 0.7 percent, according to a price index by state bank SBAB and the Booli property site.
That puts property prices at around the same level as December 2020/January 2021.
SBAB’s chief economist Robert Boije believes that the drop could show that prices are normalising after the pandemic years, where prices rose significantly, especially for houses. Despite this, he described the situation as “peculiar”.
“We’ve still had quite a strong year with falling mortgage rates, especially variable rates, along with increases in real salary income,” he said.Â
December’s figures put prices around 12 percent below the peak in spring 2022.
Swedish vocabulary: besynnerlig ‒ peculiar
Government calls for mental health education in schools
Social Minister Jakob Forssmed has written in an opinion piece in Svenska Dagbladet that the government plans to introduce mental health education in Swedish schools, citing multiple reports in recent decades showing that mental health issues among children are rising.
The World Health Organisation also recommends education about mental health in schools, he added.
“Now we can add another piece to this preventative work ‒ the message that the government is going to add mental health to the schedule.”
The National Agency for Education (Skolverket), will be responsible for incorporating it into the curriculum, as well as deciding which subjects it should be taught under.
“It could be ‒ with different focuses ‒ within the framework of biology or sport and health,” Forssell said.
Swedish vocabulary: psykisk hälsa ‒ mental health
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Fewer Swedes planning holidays to the US in 2026
The US has fallen from third to sixth place on a list of Swedes’ top travel destinations in 2026, according to travel agency Ticket.
One of the biggest changes for this year, according to the travel agency, is that Japan has entered the top ten most booked travel destinations, replacing Cyprus.
The US is the only country in the top ten where bookings have fallen, in a 21 percent drop from 2025. The travel agency wrote that this could change ahead of the World Cup which will be held in the country later this year.
“That puts the country in focus in a different way, and despite the fact that not everyone will be travelling to watch matches, it could mean that more people start to look at the US as a travel destination again,” Tiyoneh Jah, head of PR and communication at Ticket, wrote in a press statement.
The top ten destinations, in order, are Spain, Thailand, Italy, Greece, the UK, the US, France, Portugal, Germany and Japan.
Swedish vocabulary: nobba ‒ to reject or refuse