Emergency information in English

Emergency information from official Swedish sources is mainly published in Swedish. Here is some advice about how to get information about emergencies in Sweden if you do not understand Swedish.
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  • In the case of quickly unfolding events or emergencies, information from Swedish authorities in English and other languages than Swedish may initially be limited.
  • The municipality (”kommunen”) will publish information about local emergencies, crises, and accidents which affects citizens or visitors. Also, any authority responsible for handling an emergency or cisis (the Police, the regions, the counties et cetera), is obliged to inform the public about the events. This is usually done on the authority's website, through press releases to media, and on social media. Facebook and Twitter are commonly used by many Swedish authorities.   
  • Krisinformation.se will compile and dispatch official information about crises and emergencies from the authorities on the website Krisinformation.se, on Facebook, and on Twitter. Normally, information will be in Swedish only, but during large-scale events, we strive to publish important messages in English. 
  • Use online translation tools in order to follow information from the authorities on the web and on social media. Krisinformation.se will publish information from the authorities and other actors within the crisis management system. Use the weblinks published on Krisinformation.se to go directly to the responsible Swedish authorities.
  • If there is something you do not understand or need explained, ask Swedes to help you. Most Swedes will be willing and able to assist. Do not hesitate to ask people about the meaning of warning messages or information from Swedish authorities. In most cases, you will be able to get information in English directly from the responsible authorities.
  • Use the official Swedish phone numbers for assistance in English. Call 112 for alerting police, ambulance, or the fire services. Call 113 13 for information about large-scale accidents and emergencies if you are in Sweden. From abroad, call +46 77 33 113 13.  Other helplines may be used by the municipalities, healthcare authorities, or the police. Call 114 14 for non-urgent questions to the Police. The number can be used as a helpline in emergencies handled by the Police. From abroad, call +46 77 114 14 00 for the Swedish Police. Call 1177 for advice on diseases, health, and healthcare in Sweden. From abroad or from foreign mobile phone in Sweden, dial +46 771 1177 00.
  • Swedish Radio's local channel P4, will report about accidents and emergencies, being Sweden’s public radio emergency channel. This channel also mediates Important Public Announcements (”Viktigt meddelande till allmänheten” or ”VMA”). Important Public Announcements is the warning system used by Swedish authorities to alert the public whenever health or human life is at risk. All such notices are published by Krisinformation.se and on Krisinformation.se's Facebook or Twitter accounts, Swedish Television, Swedish Radio, and other media channels (in Swedish). A siren system is used for urgent notices in populated areas. Important Public Announcements can be distributed to mobile phones in the area as text messages if the rescue services decide to. You do not need to register for this, all phones in an area where a text messages is sent will obtain the warning. 
  • Use online translation tools to follow important emergency information published on this website or on Krisinformation.se's Facebook or Twitter accounts. Swedish Radio's local channel P4, is the Swedish public emergency radio channel. Sveriges Radio P4 Stockholm. Choose the P4 channel of your region to follow local news and information.      
  • For English speakers, listen to Radio Sweden, Swedish Radio's foreign language channel.