SHARE
COPY LINK

WEATHER

Parts of Western Norway hit by major floods, several roads closed

Floods hit parts of Western Norway on Saturday, and Voss Municipality is particularly affected by the flooding.

Flooding
It will take many hours before the water recedes and the extent of the damage can be assessed. Photo by Alvis Wolff / Unsplash

According to Norwegian media, Voss Municipality is hardest hit by the floods in Western Norway.

The flooding has caused damage to several buildings in Voss, but the extent of the damage is still uncertain.

Fortunately, the flood peak has been reached in the area, according to the police.

“The water level is no longer rising,” operations manager Tore André Brakstad in the Western Police District told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) on Saturday morning.

Several roads closed

Several roads in the Voss area are closed due to flooding. At 7 am, two new county roads were closed – Gjernesvegen and the road by Voss gymnasium.

E16 between Bulken and Voss remains closed – national highway 13 and county highway 79 serve as detours.

The need to keep the E16 closed will be reassessed at 4 pm.

Railway sections closed

In terms of train traffic, the Dale–Voss and Myrdal–Flåm sections are still closed due to the flooding. Flåmsbana is also closed.

News bureau NTB reports that Vy doesn’t know how long it will take before the trains can run as normal again.

According to Voss Municipality, this is the second worst flood in modern times in Voss and probably the worst ever in Evanger.

Local authorities are asking residents to be careful. There is still a very high-water flow, and the risk of landslides is substantial, they warn.

It will take several hours before the water recedes and the extent of the damage can be assessed.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

WEATHER

Norway to enjoy warm sunny weather on May 17th

Many will be able to enjoy clear blue skies and sunny weather on Norway’s national day, May 17th, according to the latest forecasts from meteorologists. 

Norway to enjoy warm sunny weather on May 17th

Norway’s two biggest cities could be treated to great weather on May 17th. Both Bergen and Oslo will see temperatures of between 15 and 20 degrees and clear skies. 

“The weather will be quite good in Eastern Norway. It will probably be up to 20 degrees,” Susanne Moen Olsen, meteorologist on duty at StormGeo, told broadcaster TV 2.

The forecast will come as good news to the many hundreds of thousands who will either be participating in or watching a Constitution Day parade. 

While many will enjoy the weather, the heat could make wearing a bunad, a traditional folk costume made from wool and featuring heavy embroidery and jewellery, uncomfortable for long spells. 

A forecast from Yr shows that Bregen could enjoy highs of 24 degrees on May 17th. This means that the record for the warmest-ever Constitution Day in Bergen could be broken. The record was set in 2019 and highs of 24.3 degrees were recorded. 

Trondheim was set to have decent weather, as is most of the rest of the country. 

“Generally, the weather should be quite good. In Nordland, it will be up to 15 degrees at least,” Moen Olsen said. 

Tromsø and Bodø, the two biggest cities in north Norway, will see highs of 16 and 21 degrees, respectively, although both places will have chilly lows of 5 degrees. 

Stavanger will have highs of 22 degrees and lows of 10 degrees, along with a light breeze. Kristiansand will have highs of 16 degrees but more brisk winds of between 25.2 and 40 kilometres per hour. 

Meanwhile, in Ålesund, the weather will be around 19 degrees with a gentle breeze. 

One thing to be wary of was the tradition of grilling on May 17th, as a yellow danger warning for forest fires has been issued across large parts of southern and eastern Norway. 

Below you can see a forecast for May 17th from Yr posted onto X (formerly Twitter). 

SHOW COMMENTS