Extreme weather conditions wreaked havoc in recent days, upsetting air, ferry and rail traffic and causing hundreds of car accidents, but meteorologists on Sunday forecast climbing temperatures and subsiding winds.

Air traffic was getting back to normal in Denmark, after snow and ice shut down Copenhagen's airport completely for several hours on Friday and forced Scandinavia's main airline SAS to cancel 144 flights on Saturday.

Some driving glitches remained, however, including on the Oeresund bridge linking Denmark to southern Sweden, which was shut down at around 1:30 pm (1230 GMT) Sunday when large blocks of ice began tumbling from the suspension cables into the roadway, according to traffic information.

The bridge was expected to reopen around 4:00 pm.

The Storebaelt bridge connecting the country's central island of Fyn with the eastern island where Copenhagen is located had also reopened, after shutting down Friday afternoon due to tumbling ice, leaving thousands of motorists stranded out in the freezing cold.

Although temperatures were still expected to tumble as low as minus 15 Celsius (five degrees Fahrenheit) in the evening, forecasters saw a rise in coming days to as high as five degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit).

In Norway, where some 700 buildings were damaged by the recent storms as strong winds ripped off roofs and smashed entire buildings, forecasts were also more positive on Sunday, with temperatures expected to crawl above freezing in many places.

Meteorologists cautioned however that more storms could be expected in northern Norway and along the west coast this coming week, although they do not anticipate extreme conditions.

The heavy snow, followed by warmer weather and possibly rain was also expected to increase the danger of avalanches in the mountains, according to The Norwegian Meteorological Institute.

In Sweden, where at least 500 car accidents were reported due to difficult driving conditions in recent days, the situation was also returning to normal with warmer weather expected, although a number of roads remained closed in the north because of snow and avalanches.

Driving was especially difficult in central-eastern Sweden, which was covered in more than one meter (3.3 feet) of snow in less than 24 hours, and where snow drifts in some places towered as high as three meters on Saturday.

Delays continued to be reported along some rail lines in southern Sweden on Sunday.

In Finland meanwhile, temperatures dropped as low as minus 40.8 degrees Celsius overnight Saturday, but were also expected to become milder beginning on Monday.

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