The western Hordaland and Rogaland counties have already seen storm-strength winds of up to 35 metres per second as the extreme weather got underway in the early hours of Friday, reports broadcaster NRK.
Fire services in the region dispatched to help secure boats were forced to abandon their operation and return to land for their own safety, according to a tweet posted by Hordaland’s fire service, which cited “extremely bad weather.”
2 skøyter synker.Ca 50 fot. Klarer ikke lense båtene. Brannvesen trekker på land pga egensikkerhet. Ekstremt dårlig vær.
— 110 Hordaland (@110Hordaland) December 8, 2017
On Friday morning, northwesterly winds were measuring at 25 metres per second and up to full storm strength, according to NRK’s report.
Waves of up to 8-11 metres in height are expected on the west coast.
The Meteorological Institute also reported heavy snowfall on mountain pass areas in the southern part of the country.
#Aina har flyttet mye snø og stengt flere fjelloverganger i #FjelletISørNorge. Vinden vil fortsatt være sterk gjennom dagen i dag, men lørdag minker den gradvis.
foto: Statens Vegvesen (fra RV7 over Hardangervidda) pic.twitter.com/b5syvjzEvO— Meteorologene (@Meteorologene) December 8, 2017
State traffic agency Veitrafikksentralen announced that road E134 had been closed in the Haukelifjell area due to the conditions. A ferry service connecting Hattvik and Venjaneset near Bergen, and another connecting Tau and Stavanger, were also temporarily closed.
A combination of strong winds, heavy precipitation and high waves gives a high risk of significant damage, reports NRK.
Conditions are expected to ease in the Nordland county and in southern Norway on Friday, while increasing in the Troms and western Finnmark areas, the Meteorological Institute reported on Friday morning.
Storm conditions are expected to continue on the west coast and parts of the mountains in the south of the country, wrote the agency.
#Norge fra oven kl 07:
Etter en heftig kveld og natt vil vinden nå gradvis avta i Nordland og i SørNorge, mens den øker noe i Troms og VestFinnmark. Fortsatt storm langs kysten av Vestlandet og lokalt i FjelletISørNorge. #Aina #Vinterstorm pic.twitter.com/1tC7PHPsiu— Meteorologene (@Meteorologene) December 8, 2017
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