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WEATHER

Torrential rain causes road closures, evacuations and damage across Norway

Severe weather caused havoc across Norway on Sunday and Monday, with property and roads damaged and traffic delays in several areas.

Published: 24 July 2017 13:45 CEST
Torrential rain causes road closures, evacuations and damage across Norway
File photo of the E6 in Gudbrandsdalen. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB scanpix

The E6 motorway in Norway’s Gudbrandsdalen region between the towns of Kvam and Frya was closed for several hours on Monday morning after a downpour of up to 70mm of rain.

A bridge also collapsed in the Sogn og Fjordane county, making evacuations necessary, reports broadcaster NRK.

Weather conditions were treacherous in both the eastern and western parts of southern Norway during the morning, according to the report.

The E39 road was also closed near the (Hornindalsvatnet) lake, but has now been reopened, while the E6 closure is expected to cause traffic problems throughout the day.

After water broke through a local road near the village of Harpefoss, a dam was created above the E6. Authorities then had to work to prevent water breaking through and flooding the motorway, according to the report.

 “Two excavators are working at the scene to keep the situation in check and experts are on their way to assess how best to manage it,” press officer Øystein Skotte of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) told NRK.

The E6 opened again at 12:15pm, according to NRK's report.

“70 millimetres of rain fell during the night and it has had serious results for local roads,” maintenance operator Tom Erik Amundsen of the Sør-Fron municipality told NRK.

Sogn og Fjordane county suffered extensive localised damage, with houses flooded and smaller buildings, including a garage, washed into the fjord.

A flooded river has also destroyed a bridge and closed off local road 60.

A thunderstorm Sunday afternoon saw damage to Tronfjellveien, Norway’s highest road, which leads to the Tronfjellet mountain in Hedmark.

Metre-deep holes in the road appeared after the storm, according to the report.

“The road looks rough. Huge stones have been dislodged and there is not a metre of road clear up to the top,” witness Jarle Tronslien told NRK.

WEATHER

Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

Blizzards in Denmark this week have resulted in the greatest depth of snow measured in the country for 13 years.

Published: 4 January 2024 14:18 CET
Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

A half-metre of snow, measured at Hald near East Jutland town Randers, is the deepest to have occurred in Denmark since January 2011, national meteorological agency DMI said.

The measurement was taken by the weather agency at 8am on Thursday.

Around 20-30 centimetres of snow was on the ground across most of northern and eastern Jutland by Thursday, as blizzards peaked resulting in significant disruptions to traffic and transport.

A much greater volume of snow fell in 2011, however, when over 100 centimetres fell on Baltic Sea island Bornholm during a post-Christmas blizzard, which saw as much as 135 centimetres on Bornholm at the end of December 2010.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s January storms could be fourth extreme weather event in three months

With snowfall at its heaviest for over a decade, Wednesday saw a new rainfall record. The 59 millimetres which fell at Svendborg on the island of Funen was the most for a January day in Denmark since 1886. Some 9 weather stations across Funen and Bornholm measured over 50cm of rain.

DMI said that the severe weather now looks to have peaked.

“We do not expect any more weather records to be set in the next 24 hours. But we are looking at some very cold upcoming days,” DMI meteorologist and press spokesperson Herdis Damberg told news wire Ritzau.

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