Oslo’s record-warm summer weather led to a relatively new problem for the city: Cockroach infestations. Once almost unheard of in Oslo, roaches become more prevalent in recent years and pest control experts think the warm weather this year prompted them to spread from building to building.
“We now have a fair amount of cockroaches in Norway, most of them in the capital,” Arnulf Solengved of the state health institute Folkehelseinstituttet. “They spread with tourists, food and via suitcases or bags that come from abroad. A lot of them live here permanently now.”
Solengved said the unusually high temperatures in Oslo this past summer allowed the roaches “to have a fine time,” and wander outdoors, from house to house. One pest control company in Oslo found around 500 cockroaches in one apartment alone, and neighbours’ units were affected as well.
“It’s natural for them to seek warm places, and they’ll certainly come inside when the weather gets colder,” he said. Norwegians have also been warned to be especially vigilant about mice this year, in both homes and holiday cabins, since there reportedly have been frequent sightings of mice outdoors and especially in the mountains, and they also move indoors when temperatures fall.
newsinenglish.no staff
