Norway hit by weather trouble as both rain and snow disrupt country
Roads in Norway’s southern Telemark country have been closed and damaged due to rain, while snow and slush have caused hazardous conditions in the east.
Heavy rain during the night has resulted in closed and damaged roads at a number of locations in Telemark, reports VG.
“There has been orange [flood warning] level due to water flow during the night, with considerable overflow and flooding problems in several places,” the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate’s duty officer Elise Trondsen told VG.
Holes in roads and flooded basements have been reported during the course of the night.
But Trondsen said that the worst seemed to be over in Telemark.
“With regard to Telemark, levels of all small and medium water courses are now receding,” she said.
Norway’s state road agency Statens vegvesen reported several road diversions in the county via its command centre Vegtrafikksentralen.
Those diversions also look likely to be reduced during Wednesday.
“It looks like things are getting much better. In southern Norway there has even been sunshine forecast,” Vegtrafikksentralen’s traffic operator Andreas Larsen told VG.
Meanwhile, snow and slush in other parts of the country have created unsafe conditions with motorists advised to change to winter tyres and exercise caution.
In the eastern Hedmark county, police responded to a number of accidents related to poor driving conditions during the night.
“There have been a lot of traffic accidents. Fortunately there has only been material damage, rather than injuries. [The accidents are] a result of heavy snowfall and that some people still have summer tyres,” Hedmark Police operation leader Tor Eirik Midthaug told news agency NTB in the early hours of Wednesday.
Midthaug said that a drop in snowfall on Wednesday would also result in improved driving conditions on the area.
“It looks as if it will stop snowing, that the snow will melt a little and conditions improve a little. The roads will also be gritted, which will also make conditions better,” he said.
In neighbouring Oppland county, heavy snow caused the roof of a sports hall to cave in.
The air-supported structure of the indoor football pitch at Raufoss possibly failed to withstand the extra weight of falling snow, writes VG.
“Either the snow or a power cut caused the air to go down. We now have to remove the snow from the [roof] material, which takes a lot of manual work, and then hopefully re-inflate it later,” Raufoss Football manager Bent Dalby told VG.
Power cuts also affected several thousand houses near the city of Lillehammer, reports media Gd.no.
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Heavy rain during the night has resulted in closed and damaged roads at a number of locations in Telemark, reports VG.
“There has been orange [flood warning] level due to water flow during the night, with considerable overflow and flooding problems in several places,” the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate’s duty officer Elise Trondsen told VG.
Holes in roads and flooded basements have been reported during the course of the night.
But Trondsen said that the worst seemed to be over in Telemark.
“With regard to Telemark, levels of all small and medium water courses are now receding,” she said.
Norway’s state road agency Statens vegvesen reported several road diversions in the county via its command centre Vegtrafikksentralen.
Those diversions also look likely to be reduced during Wednesday.
“It looks like things are getting much better. In southern Norway there has even been sunshine forecast,” Vegtrafikksentralen’s traffic operator Andreas Larsen told VG.
Meanwhile, snow and slush in other parts of the country have created unsafe conditions with motorists advised to change to winter tyres and exercise caution.
In the eastern Hedmark county, police responded to a number of accidents related to poor driving conditions during the night.
“There have been a lot of traffic accidents. Fortunately there has only been material damage, rather than injuries. [The accidents are] a result of heavy snowfall and that some people still have summer tyres,” Hedmark Police operation leader Tor Eirik Midthaug told news agency NTB in the early hours of Wednesday.
Midthaug said that a drop in snowfall on Wednesday would also result in improved driving conditions on the area.
“It looks as if it will stop snowing, that the snow will melt a little and conditions improve a little. The roads will also be gritted, which will also make conditions better,” he said.
In neighbouring Oppland county, heavy snow caused the roof of a sports hall to cave in.
The air-supported structure of the indoor football pitch at Raufoss possibly failed to withstand the extra weight of falling snow, writes VG.
“Either the snow or a power cut caused the air to go down. We now have to remove the snow from the [roof] material, which takes a lot of manual work, and then hopefully re-inflate it later,” Raufoss Football manager Bent Dalby told VG.
Power cuts also affected several thousand houses near the city of Lillehammer, reports media Gd.no.
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