HELSINKI (NEWSnet/AP) – Finland and Sweden recorded their coldest temperatures this winter on Tuesday, with thermometers plummeting to -40 degrees Celsius.

The cold and snow disrupted transport across the region, including Norway, with the weather closing major highways and causing ferry companies to suspend operations. Sweden’s railway operator said the cold wave had caused serious problems for rail traffic north of the Arctic Circle.

Temperatures in Nikkarokta, a small indigenous Sami village in northern Sweden, recorded -41.6 degrees Celsius (-42.8 degrees Celsius) early Tuesday, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported.

“Temperatures are the coldest so far this winter and will continue to be quite cold in the north,” SVT meteorologist Nils Holmqvist said.

The Swedish Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology confirmed temperatures of -30C (-22C) in several places in northern Sweden and issued a snow and wind warning for south-central Sweden.

In Finland, the coldest record so far this winter was set in the northwestern town of Ilibieska, where temperatures fell to -36 degrees Fahrenheit early Tuesday morning, and forecasters predict that temperatures will remain cold in some parts of the country throughout this week. He said the temperature would drop below -40 degrees Celsius.

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