Online Desk: Sweden recorded its coldest temperatures of the winter Tuesday when thermometres plummeted as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit) as a cold spell grips the country.

Cold and snow disrupted transportation throughout the Nordic region, including in Norway where a major highway in the south was closed due to the weather and ferry lines suspended operations.

Swedish train operators said the cold snap caused substantial problems for rail traffic in the Arctic north, reports AP.

Nikkaluokta, a small village inhabited by indigenous Sami people in northern Sweden, recorded a temperature of minus 41.6 degrees C (minus 42.8 F) early Tuesday, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported.

“It’s the coldest temperature we have had so far this winter, and it will continue to be quite cold weather in the north,” SVT meteorologist Nils Holmqvist said.