Snow falls for first time this winter in southern Norway

2017.First snow in the year in Oslo.: Mariam Butt / NTB scanpix

Slippery roads have created problems after many places in southern Norway have received the winter’s first snowfall.

 

On Tuesday morning, police reported several sites in the country had seen minor accidents due to icy conditions, but so far no serious accidents have occurred.

In Porsgrunn, a car drove into the river, but it is uncertain whether this was due to the snow. The two who were in the car got onto the land, according to the police.

The first snow hit Western Norway on Monday night, but since then, parts of Sørlandet, and large parts of Eastern Norway, including Oslo, have also seen snow.

Up to 20 centimeters

According to Meteorological consultant, Jan Inge Hansen, at the Meteorological Institute, there are currently small snowfalls in the lowlands. In the mountains, the amounts are somewhat larger.

‘In Sirdal in Vest-Agder, 11 centimeters of fresh snow have fallen. Up in the mountains at Haukeliseter, 20 centimeters have fallen. Geilo has received 7 centimeters’, said Hansen.

In advance, the Meteorological Institute issued notice of difficult driving conditions due to snow in Telemark, Vestfold, Østfold, Oslo, Akershus and Buskerud on Tuesday morning.

Reduced accessibility

Along the coast of western, and southern Norway, the precipitation came first and foremost as rain, and it’s expected that the snow that fell in these regions last night will soon melt. However, in the morning, it has the potential to create problems in several places.

On the E39 at Helleland, outside Egersund in Rogaland, the surprising snowfall caused a couple of mishaps during the morning hours.

The road traffic centre reported, just before 05.00, of reduced accessibility due to a traffic accident on the E39, in Lund municipality. According to the Southwestern Police District, a truck had swerved out of control. A light pole is on the road, and fuel from a tractor.

‘The snow comes as Christmas Eve on the Kjerringa,’ said Henning Andersen of the
Southwestern Police District, somewhat poetically, to NTB News Agency.

‘It’s snowy and slippery. There is poor visibility. This has caused problems, especially for heavy transport vehicles.’

Warning

The western police district also gave reports of snow on the roads.

‘It is a warning to people who are going out, and driving. It can be slippery, and there are big local variations,’ said operations manager, Eivind Hellesund.

Troms police district also reported slippery roads. ‘Freezing rain in Harstad. Very slippery.

Take time to get to work. Have a safe, and nice, day!’, they said on twitter.

 

©  NTB Scanpix / Norway Today