Christmas weather across Norway

Christmas weather cabin snowA cabin surrounded by winter snow. Photo: Pixabay.com

Christmas weather across Norway

Heavy winds, avalanche and landslide hazards and slippery roads create problems in several places in Norway on Christmas day. – Drive extremely cautiously, the police urges.

Slippery roads, closed Mountain crossings and bad weather

In Voss, one of several areas where, according to the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), there is a considerable landslide hazard on Christmas Day, a two-cubic meter block of ice fell on the E16 at Evanger. A female driver collided with the chunk of ice but luckily escaped from it without serious injuries.

Other places in the country report of bad weather and poor visibility. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute has issued out warnings about difficult driving conditions due to snow and strong winds in the mountains in southern Norway, as well as for Nordland and Southern parts of Troms.

– It is still very windy in the higher mountains in southern Norway, which causes traffic problems between east and west, Meteorologist on guard, Terje Alsvik Walløe, tells NTB at 11.30 am Tuesday, adding that

in northern and central parts of the country, the problems are mostly due to wind and precipitation, largely in the form of snow.

Closed Mountain crossings

As a result of the bad weather, a number of roads and mountain crossings are either closed completely or have convoys imposed.

Between east and west, the E134 over Haukelifjell, national road 52 Hemsedalsfjellet, county road 50 Hol-Aurland have convoys, while national road 7 over Hardangervidda is closed for traffic.

On the E16 over Filefjell and national road 15 over Strynefjellet, there are reports of slippery areas and reduced visibility.

Elsewhere, the county road 51 Valdresflye and county road 53 Tyin-Årdal are still closed due to storms, but the latter is expected to reopen at 1 pm. County Road 55 The Sognefjell is closed for the winter.

In Northern Norway, none of the mountain crossings is currently closed, but there are also reports of snow cover and poor visibility in several places. On the county road 813 Beiarfjellet, there are convoys due to blizzards.

Slippery slopes

In the lowlands especially in the southeastern parts of Norway, the weather conditions are better, but rain freezing into ice during Christmas Eve still leads to soap-slippery roads in several places.

The police in Trøndelag warn on Tuesday morning about very slippery roads in the Oppdal area, while in Agder the police have warned that it is very slippery on County Road 405 between Grovane and Oggevatn.

Operations Manager in Oslo Police District, Tor Jøkling, has a tip at the ready for people who are (not) going for a spin on Christmas Day.

– Calculate with ample time, do not stress and adjust your speed according to the conditions. Don’t let your temper affect your actions, he tips VG.

Improves

On the evening of Christmas Day and beyond, the wind in the mountains in southern Norway is abating, and it will probably be better driving conditions through the mountain passes.

– But there is a low pressure that will lead to local rainfall in both Western and Eastern Norway, and in the east, it can become particularly slippery north of Oslo since the temperature stays below zero centigrade. In Western Norway, precipitation will come down as normal rain, Alsvik Ullebøe informs.

– In Northern Norway, snow and wintery conditions are expected. It gets milder in the south and coldest in the north, the meteorologist forecasts.

Mountain crossings in southern Norway are closed for the winter

After blizzards and heavy winds, the Public Road Administration has decided to winter close two mountain crossings in southern Norway as of Tuesday.

– County Road 13 over Gaularfjell in Sogn og Fjordane is winter closed as of today, the Road Traffic Central West Tweets at 1 pm on Tuesday.

At the same time, the Road Traffic Central East reports that the county road 51 over Valdresflye is also winter closed until further notice.

Another 20 other smaller county road sections across the mountains in southern Norway are already closed for the duration.

All-time wet in Trondheim on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve in Trondheim this year was the wettest since measurements began in 1885, writes Adresseavisen.

In the 24 hours from 7 pm to 7 pm from Christmas Eve onwards, 33.6 millimetres of snow fell at the Saupstad measuring station the newspaper writes.

Several other stations in the area recorded unusually large precipitation on Christmas Eve.

The police in Trøndelag warn on Tuesday against very slippery roads. In addition, a warning has been issued regarding increased landslide risk in Trøndelag.

A large avalanche on Svalbard

Emergency services have moved out following a report of a major avalanche on Svalbard on Christmas Day.

The police have moved out with all the resources, in addition to two helicopters and help from the Red Cross, Governor Lisbet Hansen tells Svalbardposten.

It is not yet known whether anyone has been caught in the avalanche, which took place in Todalen, a side valley to Adventdalen.

The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) has issued a yellow hazard warning for avalanches on Svalbard. On Wednesday, NVE announces increased avalanche risk.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today