Harsher than usual winds bite across northern Norway by Nina Ridge
A vicious winter storm with winds gusting to 90 mph battered the Arctic north of Norway on Friday, causing structural damage and disrupting transport and electricity supplies.
Harsh winds and cold weather are normal during winter in the far north of Norway, but Friday’s storm brought conditions that were extreme even for that region. The strength of the wind caused the wind chill factor to fall below -40°C. In Tromsø, the main city in northern Norway, 20,000 homes were left without electricity for a while when the winds brought down power lines.
In the south and west of Norway it was heavy snow, rather than the winds, that caused problems. Roads were blocked and power cuts affected some areas. Neighbouring Denmark also suffered from snow and strong winds, with Copenhagen’s international airport having to suspend some flights on Friday evening due to planes being covered in ice. The Storebælt bridge, linking the Danish islands of Funen and Zealand, was also closed due to ice.
While northern and western parts of Japan have suffered from heavy snowfall since December, Tokyo has escaped the snow – until now. The heaviest snowfall seen in the capital for five years fell on Saturday, causing flight cancellations and causing delays to the famously reliable bullet train services.
7 cm (2.8 inches) of snow had fallen on the Otemachi area of central Tokyo by 6 am GMT Saturday, the heaviest since 8cm (3.2 in) fell on the city on 27th January 2001. Tokyo’s forecast for next few days calls for temperatures stay hovering around freezing, but after today’s snow it should be dry for the rest of the week.
|
|
