The three victims -- one a nine-year-old boy, the other two motorists, one in his 60s -- died from falling trees, as meteorologists said winds on the southwest coast reached speeds of up to 144 kilometres (90 miles) per hour.

By late afternoon, the storms had left about 270,000 homes without electricity, TT said.

The rail authority Banverket said on its Internet site that train traffic in the affected southwestern regions would be suspended until 2300 GMT because of trees blown on to tracks.

Road traffic was stopped across the Oresund bridge linking Denmark and Sweden while trains were crossing at reduced speed.

The storm also swept into Denmark over the course of the day with falling trees blocking roads, said Danish press agency Ritzau.

At the airport in Gothenburg air traffic was partially affected but a spokesman said it was expected to return to normal during the evening.

"About five or six departures were cancelled ... and some planes preferred to land at other airports, in Oslo or Copenhagen," said spokesman Hans Roennqvist.

Late in the day, the storm moved from the west coast towards the east coast and hit the capital Stockholm, although its intensity had weakened.

"The worst is over... in the evening it will begin to diminish everywhere," said meteorologist Bengt Lindstrom.

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