New land for flood victims

Local authorities will offer new and safer land to families in the Kvam district who lost their homes in last month’s flood disaster. On Tuesday, local leaders toured the area, promising to waste no time in deciding on new property development. “It’s hard to set a firm deadline, but we hope to get going before [...]

Costs mount as rainstorm floods Oslo

Damage caused by the sudden violent rainstorm that hit Oslo and other cities on Sunday is likely to be far costlier than the recent floods in East Norway’s countryside, insurance sources believe. In the course of two midday hours, Oslo got as much rain as it normally gets over two weeks. As a result, city [...]

Sudden heat wave shocked Karasjok

Vast areas of Northern Norway broke all previous temperature records over the weekend, with thermometers in the Arctic city of Karasjok hitting well over 30C (86F) on Saturday. Many spots in the northern counties of Finnmark, Troms and Nordland were much warmer than the Canary Islands, but cooler weather was forecast for this week. The [...]

Flood damage claims pour in

The cost of last week’s severe flooding in southern Norway is likely to hit a quarter-billion kroner (USD 43 million), as insurance firms tally up the damage. In northern Norway, meanwhile, more floods were expected as temperatures hit record highs. It was warmer in some parts of the Arctic county of Finnmark on Tuesday than [...]

Floodwaters crest, ‘the worst is over’

Water levels in some of Norway’s largest lakes and rivers continued to rise during the weekend but by Monday morning, officials at waterways directorate NVE (Norges vassdrags- og energidirektorat) were saying the worst was over. Now they expect the floodwaters that have been pouring into lakes like Mjøsa and Øyeren to start receding. “There is [...]

Floods show lack of accountability

EXPATRIATE MUSINGS: Spring floods rolled through large parts of Norway again last week, destroying homes that in some areas had just been rebuilt after flooding two years ago. That’s prompted reaction from insurance companies, some politicians and Carol King, a recent immigrant from the US who can’t understand why this is happening. Debate may arise [...]

Flood disaster moving south

SEE NRK VIDEO: As state officials declared disaster areas in severely flooded portions of southern Norway, attention was turning to the new threats posed by rapidly rising water levels along the Glomma River and where it flows into the large lake east of Oslo called Øyeren. Landslides, meanwhile, were causing more damage from Telemark in [...]

Hundreds evacuated and damage spreads as flood waters rise

Neighbours were crying and hugging one another Thursday morning as they watched raging flood waters slam into their homes in Kvam, in the valley of Gudbrandsdalen. Nearly 300 homeowners were evacuated during the night, as were others farther south in Eidsvoll and in several other communities around southern Norway as rain and snowmelt turned rivers [...]

Flood warnings up after warm snap

A sudden rise in temperatures all over Norway led to a warm and mostly sunny holiday weekend, but also set off flooding and fears of more calamity, especially in the southeast. Snow in the mountains is melting much too quickly for rivers and creeks to handle the runoff. State meteorologists were predicting heavy rain this [...]

Spring chill blamed on warmer Arctic

As Norway woke up to yet another chilly, even frosty, morning on Monday, experts were linking this year’s unusually cold spring weather to melting ice in the Arctic. They blame another rise in Arctic temperatures last year, and ice that’s melting at a record pace in places like Svalbard. The sub-freezing weather that continued to [...]

Spring storm moving in Thursday

After weeks of clear blue skies and cold temperatures, residents of southern Norway were being warned this week that a spring storm was on the way. It’s likely to hit Sørlandet and Vestlandet in the south and west on Thursday, and then move in over Telemark and southeastern Norway, with lots of rain, sleet, wind [...]

Winter not over, more chills ahead

State meteorologists were warning on Tuesday that winter isn’t ready to release its icy grip, despite sunny skies in southern Norway and a calendar that reads “April.” Avalanche danger also remains extremely high in mountain areas, especially in the north, and the south may get more snow this weekend. The weather was looking deceptively spring-like [...]

Picture perfect ‘påske’ holidays

Most of southern Norway basked in sunshine during the Easter holiday week known as “påske,” perfect for skiers who headed outdoors, but it was stormy in the north. State highway officials were forced to close many roads in Troms County, which also has been plagued by avalanches. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that a fear of [...]

Ice-cold Albanians stun ‘Drillos’

Underdogs Albania inflicted a humiliating 1-0 loss on the Norwegian national football team (landslaget) on ice cold home turf in Oslo on Friday night – described as “one of the most bitter losses I have experienced” by head coach Egil “Drillo” Olsen speaking to TV2 after the game. In a crucial World Cup qualifying match [...]

Avalanche alarms at highest level

Fresh snowfall, wind and daring skiers in steep areas have set off avalanche alarms all over Norway, just before next week’s traditional Easter holidays in the mountains get underway. Nine persons were caught in avalanches around Norway during the weekend, and one of them was killed. “The warning level where we are now, grade three, [...]

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