(edit title) Weather - what is it 'really' like? Moving from England. Options

[*Guest*]

Hi Folks,

I am currently considering a number of properties with land in various parts of Norrland.

I do have friends in Sweden however they are close to Malmo and have never been much beyond Stockholm and they have suggested I would be way better off asking this question to someone who lives in Norrland.

I appreciate it is a big place so there will be some diversity.

The issue being is we have 2 horses, we live in the north of England right now -10c is not a big deal, frozen ground 8 weeks of the year is not a big deal.

Most of the property I have been looking at is either on the northeast coast or certainly towards the east.

Can anyone tell me their reality and rough area the perspective is from?

Is it a case of having 12 inches of snow for 4 months, is that way over the top, does the ground freeze solid, for how long, extreme exceptions aside, how bad is winter in reality?

I have to say most of the greenery around the properties for sale looks first class so it must be very seasonal and I appreciate the pictures will be taken at the best possible time for selling.

Obviously learning Swedish to a fairly high standard is a priority to be able to deal with people for ordering hay, bedding etc as I expect that the further past Stockholm one gets the level of even basic English starts to decline?

I appreciate any and all insights, even if you are not from the area but are fairly certain.

[TLSucks]

Along the coast is much milder climate than inland, but you have to define Norrland better. The Norrland coast stretches 850 kilometers from G?vle to Haparanda and the climate changes a lot.

In the south part (up to Sundsvall) it hasn't snowed very much the last winters and the temperature has only been slightly below zero. But occasionally you get cold winters with lots of snow. Summers are around 20 degrees.

English would not be a problem, everyone speaks it no matter where you are in the country. Only exception is tthe elderly (80 and above). The Norrland coast is a popular tourist attraction, especially the High Coast around Sundsvall (https://visitsweden.com/high-coast/), and every other car is foreign during the summers.

[TLSucks]

Here you can see the typical daily max and min temperatures for January:
http://www.smhi.se/klimatdata/meteorologi/...-januari-1.4008
http://www.smhi.se/klimatdata/meteorologi/...-januari-1.4034
and for July
http://www.smhi.se/klimatdata/meteorologi/...e-i-juli-1.4022
http://www.smhi.se/klimatdata/meteorologi/...e-i-juli-1.4050

[*Guest*]

Thanks for the replies they are incredibly helpful.

I appreciate I am talking about a stretch of land longer than England itself so I know it is not possible to say the weather in Norrland is like XYZ.

I am looking to restrict the property search somewhat I suppose I was looking for a "closer to the coast the better" type of answer and anywhere above (insert place here) you are going to start getting significantly colder.

A few properties I really liked were on the border of Finland but I have to admit, I just assumed that would be too hard to manage with big animals.

[yet another brit]

It's sort of true to say that Norrland is covered in snow in the winter, and covered in mosquitoes+midges in the summer. As I have understood it, the summers can be difficult for horses. They usually seem to wear some kind of hood to keep the insects off.

But you could try one of the horse owners clubs near where you are looking. If you say exactly where, I'm sure someone could do a little research with Mr Google and give you some tips.

[TLSucks]

It's sort of true to say that Norrland is covered in snow in the winter, and covered in mosquitoes+midges in the summer.

Only some parts of Norrland though and not at the coast. The Sundsvall region for example is pretty void of mosquitoes compared to southern Sweden and the climate is very mild in winters.

[Svedallas]

It's sort of true to say that Norrland is covered in snow in the winter, and covered in mosquitoes+midges in the summer. As I have understood it, the summers can be diffic ... (show full quote)

It's sort of true to say that Norrland is covered in snow in the winter, and covered in mosquitoes+midges in the summer. As I have understood it, the summers can be difficult for horses. They usually seem to wear some kind of hood to keep the insects off.

But you could try one of the horse owners clubs near where you are looking. If you say exactly where, I'm sure someone could do a little research with Mr Google and give you some tips. ... (hide full quote)

Is it a case of having 12 inches of snow for 4 months, is that way over the top, does the ground freeze solid, for how long, extreme exceptions aside, how bad is winter in reality?

It is always hard to predict, but the snow/cold up north can tend to be longer than 4 months.

Search for farm/farmer associations that can probably answer/help with the questions.
Good luck.

[elliha]

You can have horses in all of northern Sweden and I know people who keep them outside even in winter in the area around Lule?. Of course they need to have a dry and windfree place to sleep in. Most people would have them in stables though.

How cold will it get and how much snow? Impossible to answer but when I lived in Boden the coldest I experienced was -44 C and normal for winter in that area is from 0 to about -25 with the occasional -25 or colder especially in January. Snow can be anything from not that much 10 cm or so to 1.5 meters or more. Now I live in Ume?, normal is around 0 to about -15 and rarely colder than -20. Snow can be anything from nothing to perhaps 1 meter.

Summers wouldn't be too different from northern England. Mosquitos vary a lot, some places are hell, others don't have a single one.

[FJWright]

Yes we experienced this ice last year whilst in ?stersund for the biathlon. It was certainly and eye opener to the ?bad weeks? of winter we will have to get used to when we move. The hotel staff said it?s like that in spring too. We will def be investing in good spikes for our shoes

[Bsmith]

And studded snow tires. I didn't have them and ended up skidding off the road and trying to climb a tree with my truck.

[rouet]

Yes we experienced this ice last year whilst in ?stersund for the biathlon. It was certainly and eye opener to the ?bad weeks? of winter we will have to get used to when we mo ... (show full quote)

Yes we experienced this ice last year whilst in ?stersund for the biathlon. It was certainly and eye opener to the ?bad weeks? of winter we will have to get used to when we move. The hotel staff said it?s like that in spring too. We will def be investing in good spikes for our shoes ... (hide full quote)

The ice last year was the worst I have experienced in my 9 winters in J?mtland.
Weeks of winter? At least 6 months
We have 4 inches of snow at the moment and have allready taken the cows indoors.

[[email protected]]

Hi everyone, I have found this feed helpful so thought it would be ok to attach my question onto it.
We are looking to move from the UK to the more northern part of Sweden.
Does anybody who currently or who has lived there have an idea of monthly house costs.
We would look to buy a property and it would be massively helpful to understand utility costs better.

Thank you in advance.
Jenny