The reasons for the ice plug in the Lainio River in Tornedalen can partly be the temperature difference.
On December 5, the temperature was minus 31.2 degrees and then slowly rose upwards.
Today, December 18, the temperature is minus 2.7 degrees.
- There is a strong temperature difference that may have contributed to it.
It may also be that the water level was relatively high for the season when the ice settled, says Emil Söderström, hydrologist on duty at SMHI.
Too much ice to explode
An ice plug in Ullån has also been set up in Åre.
On Saturday, the rescue service managed to dig away the ice masses.
However, digging or blowing up the ice plug in Kangos is considered by the rescue service to be impossible.
Lisa Stridsman is technical manager at Pajala municipality:
- Based on our assessment and experience, blasting is not an option.
It is too long stretches of ice, she tells SVT Norrbotten.
The ice plug is estimated to be 4 to 5 kilometers long and has led to parts of the village being flooded and the drinking water being unusable.
- It's huge, that's it.
During the spring flood, it can happen that ice plugs are this long, but that it happens already in December is unusual, says Emil Söderström.
If the ice plug does not decrease in size or disappear completely when the spring ice melting starts, there are great risks, he says.
- It can affect a lot.
If the ice remains as it does now, we have a thick layer of ice with lumps of ice.
When the next ice melt comes in the spring, the ice can get stuck there again, then it can flow ten times as much water.
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In the clip, you hear Lennart Ojanlatva talk about the floods in Kangos where, among other things, the water has risen 70 centimeters above the village's football pitch.
Photo: Hans Sternlund / SVT