31,000 lightning strikes registered in Jutland

Thunderstorms across southern and western Jutland night brought over 31,000 lightning strikes in the region, broadcaster DR reports.

Residents in the area also report hailstones that, in a least one case, we big enough to rip through terrace roofing.

The storms signal the end of the hot weather spell this week, with more moderate temperatures forecast this weekend.

Vocabulary: lynnedslag – lightning strike

5,000 children ‘live in poverty’ in Copenhagen

As many as 5,000 children in Copenhagen live in poverty according to a new review from the city’s municipal Finance Committee (Økonomiudvalg).

Around half of the children live in the Brønshøj-Husum, Bispebjerg and Nørrebro districts. The number represents around five percent of the total number of children who live in the city.

More should be done to support charities that fight child poverty, Karina Vestergård Madsen, an elected municipal councillor said.

“What we need focus on is support for organisations in civil society like Save the Children and Mødrehjælpen who can give them some good experiences which they can’t afford,” she said to DR.

Vocabulary: fattigdom – poverty

Road-rusty Vingegaard set for Tour de France duel with rival Pogačar 

Two-time Danish Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard faces a serious challenge in the form of longstanding rival Tadej Pogačar when the tour sets off from the Italian city of Florence on Saturday.

Team Visma’s Vingegaard hasn’t raced since suffering multiple fractures in a fall in March but recently declared himself fit for the Tour, the biggest event in cycling.

Vingegaard’s fall offers Slovenia’s Pogačar a chance at revenge for the brutal manner in which the Dane crushed him on two Alpine stages late in the 2023 edition.

“I’ve tested my legs a little and to be honest, I’ve never felt so good on a bike,” Pogačar, a back-to-back winner in 2020 and 2021, told news agency AFP.

“Everyone thinks that I’m going to win the Tour every year, but I didn’t win the last two times,” he said.

Vocabulary: et styrt – a fall/crash (on a bike)

Blaze at Tax Ministry put out by firefighters

A fire at Denmark’s Tax Ministry yesterday was swiftly extinguished after the building was evacuated.

A fire broke out on during the morning on the roof of the building in central Copenhagen which houses Denmark’s Tax Ministry as well as some residential flats.

The building is located very close to the Old Stock Exchange (Børsen), which suffered a devastating fire earlier this year. The Tax Ministry building is a modern building, unlike the historic Børsen, and is on the opposite side of Copenhagen Harbour on Nicolai Eigtveds Gade.

READ ALSO: Why have there been so many fires in Copenhagen this year?

Vocabulary: den modsatte side – the opposite side