When Norway switched to daylight savings time (called sommertid) over the weekend, the timing couldn’t have been better. Along with the extra hour of daylight in the evenings, which now extends to around 8:30pm, came a sudden surge of warm summer weather but it may fade away soon.
Residents of Southern Norway have been basking in warm sunshine since Saturday, when temperatures suddenly shot up to the low 20sC (around 70F). The towns of Hokksund and Porsgrunn were the warmest on Sunday, with both reporting official temperatures of 21.8C, and much warmer in the sun.
That explained the numbers of people wandering around Oslo in shorts and short-sleeved shirts. The official temperature registered by state meteorologists was also over 20C, and weather statistician Bernt Lie declared that it was the next-earliest date for such “Nordic summer warmth” registered since 1816.
The hint of summer is about to disappear, though, with weather forecasts calling for much lower temperatures from Friday (4-6C in Oslo and 5-9C along the southern and western coasts) and rain on Thursday. Some of it may fall as snow again in Lillehammer, Trysil and farther north, where winter has continued with full force this week.
newsinenglish.no staff
