Category Archives: Norway

‘No country is safe’: deadly Nordic heatwave supercharged by climate crisis, scientists say

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Historically cool nations saw hospitals overheating and surge in drownings, wildfires and toxic algal blooms

The prolonged Nordic heatwave in July was supercharged by the climate crisis and shows “no country is safe from climate change”, scientists say.

Norway, Sweden and Finland have historically cool climates but were hit by soaring temperatures, including a record run of 22 days above 30C (86C) in Finland. Sweden endured 10 straight days of “tropical nights”, when temperatures did not fall below 20C (68F).

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Nordic countries hit by ‘truly unprecedented’ heatwave

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Scientists record longest streak of temperatures higher than 30C in region in records going back to 1961

Cold Nordic countries are being seared by “truly unprecedented” heat, as hot weather strengthened and lengthened by carbon pollution continues to roast northern Europe.

A weather station in the Norwegian part of the Arctic Circle recorded temperatures above 30C (86F) on 13 days in July, while Finland has had three straight weeks with 30C heat.

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Nordic countries hit by ‘truly unprecedented’ heatwave

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Scientists record longest streak of temperatures higher than 30C in region in records going back to 1961

Cold Nordic countries are being seared by “truly unprecedented” heat, as hot weather strengthened and lengthened by carbon pollution continues to roast northern Europe.

A weather station in the Norwegian part of the Arctic Circle recorded temperatures above 30C (86F) on 13 days in July, while Finland has had three straight weeks with 30C heat.

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Nordic countries hit by ‘truly unprecedented’ heatwave

Posted on by

Scientists record longest streak of temperatures higher than 30C in region in records going back to 1961

Cold Nordic countries are being seared by “truly unprecedented” heat, as hot weather strengthened and lengthened by carbon pollution continues to roast northern Europe.

A weather station in the Norwegian part of the Arctic Circle recorded temperatures above 30C (86F) on 13 days in July, while Finland has had three straight weeks with 30C heat.

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Bear that bit man in Norway roams free after hunt in which wrong animal shot

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Search for female and her cubs on hold to campaigners’ relief after court had quashed injunction against cull

The hunt for a brown bear that bit a man on the elbow has been put on hold, the Norwegian environment agency has announced, in a case that angered animal rights campaigners after officials shot the wrong bear.

The agency said on Wednesday it did not now plan to act on a bear-culling order it issued in late June in Jarfjord, near the border with Russia, after a female bear bit a man’s arm, leaving him needing stitches.

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Europe urged to raise plight of Iran’s political prisoners in any future talks

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Rights activists say Tehran’s crackdown must be on agenda in any talks on future relations between Europe and Iran

Iranian human rights groups are urging MEPs and European governments to escalate the issue of Tehran’s mistreatment of political prisoners, arguing that the crackdown on internal dissent must be on the agenda in any talks about future relations between Europe and Iran.

The Iranian foreign ministry appears to be in no rush to stage further talks with the west without clear US assurances that it will not be attacked again.

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Norway lottery operator apologises to 47,000 players over prize mixup

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Norsk Tipping informed thousands of people they won big sums of money after mistake in currency conversions

Norwegian lottery bosses have sent a text message apologising to tens of thousands of disappointed players who were accidentally told they had won large sums of money.

Norsk Tipping, the state-owned gambling operator, had admitted “several thousand” people were mistakenly told on Friday they had won life-changing sums of money after an error in converting from euros to Norwegian kroner. It was not until Monday, three days later, that a text message was sent to 47,000 people apologising for the error.

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Son of Norway’s crown princess charged with rape, sexual assault and bodily harm

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Police in Oslo announce charges against Marius Borg Høiby after months-long investigation involving ‘double-digit’ number of alleged victims

Oslo police on Friday announced charges against Marius Borg Høiby, the eldest son of Norway’s crown princess, on counts including rape, sexual assault and bodily harm after a months-long investigation of a case that involved a “double-digit” number of alleged victims.

Høiby, the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit and stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, has been under scrutiny since he was repeatedly arrested in 2024 amid allegations of rape and on preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage.

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Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s father found guilty of hitting his daughter but cleared of abusing Olympic champion

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  • Gjert Ingebrigtsen acquitted of Jakob charges due to ‘reasonable doubt’

  • Handed suspended 15-day sentence and fined for abuse of Ingrid

The father of the double Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen has been found guilty of hitting the Norwegian runner’s younger sister, Ingrid, with a wet towel, and handed a 15-day suspended sentence.

However, Gjert Ingebrigtsen, who coached his Jakob to 1500m gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 before an acrimonious split a year later, was acquitted of charges of physical and verbal abuse against Jakob after a court in Norway found there was “reasonable doubt” about the accusations.

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‘A momentous day’: families of Britons killed in 1980 oil rig disaster finally win compensation

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Norway will set up state payment scheme for families of 123 men killed in Kielland disaster, but some feel it comes too late

“I think we all feel like we’ve had a bit of a weight lifted off our shoulders,” said Laura Fleming after an important milestone in one of Europe’s longest-running industrial disaster sagas. “It is just 45 years too late.”

Fleming’s father, Michael, was one of 123 men who were killed when the Alexander L Kielland accommodation rig capsized during a fierce storm in the Norwegian North Sea oilfields on 27 March 1980.

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Israel’s ‘violations’ in Gaza make world more dangerous, Norway warns

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Low respect for international law and human rights set worrying precedent, international development minister says

Israel is setting a dangerous precedent for international human rights law violations in Gaza that is making the whole world more dangerous, Norway’s international development minister has warned.

Norway has played a historical role in the region, including by facilitating the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians that led to a celebrated breakthrough deal in 1993. Last year it recognised the Palestinian state, one of a minority of European countries to do so.

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‘It was so unreal’: Norwegian man wakes to cargo ship in his garden

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A 135-metre container vessel ran aground in Byneset, near Trondheim, narrowly missing a house

A Norwegian man has spoken of the “unreal” moment he woke up to discover that a 135-metre container ship had crashed into his front garden.

The cargo vessel, the NCL Salten, had run aground just before 5am on Thursday after entering the Trondheim fjord on its way to the western town of Orkanger.

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Norway hands over Arctic Council intact after ‘difficult’ term as chair

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Ukraine conflict and Trump’s threat to seize Greenland have caused internal tensions within intergovernmental body

Norway is to hand over the leadership of an intergovernmental body comprising countries with territory in the Arctic after what its foreign minister called a “difficult two years”, during which there have been unprecedented tensions within the group’s membership related to Russia’s war in Ukraine and Donald Trump’s threat to seize Greenland.

The Arctic Council requires consensus from all eight Arctic states – the US, Russia, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the kingdom of Denmark, which includes Greenland, and Sweden – for all decisions and statements.

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Norwegian fan trades five kilos of fish for ticket to Bodø/Glimt v Tottenham

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  • Supporter with spare ticket took the bait over offer
  • Around 50,000 supporters vying for just 480 seats

A Norwegian bartered five kilos of semi-dried fish for a ticket to Thursday’s semi-final clash between Bodø/Glimt and Tottenham in the Arctic Circle, as the hosts aim to become the first Norwegian club to reach a European final.

Some 50,000 fans were vying for just 480 remaining tickets to the second leg of Bodø/Glimt’s Europa League semi-final.

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Equinor considers suing Trump administration over halted US windfarm

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Norway’s state energy company’s $2.5bn project off coast of New York was almost a third finished

Norway’s state energy company may take Donald Trump’s administration to court after it ordered an “unprecedented” halt to a $2.5bn (£1.87bn) windfarm project off the coast of New York.

Equinor is considering its legal options after the US interior secretary, Doug Burgum, ordered the company to “immediately halt all construction activities” on an offshore windfarm last month.

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Mackerel stocks near breaking point because of overfishing, say experts

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North-east Atlantic mackerel in decline and Good Fish Guide says shoppers should look for other options

Mackerel stocks are nearing a “breaking point”, experts have said as the fish is downgraded as a sustainable option.

People should be eating herring instead, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) said, because mackerel continues to be overfished by countries including Norway and the UK.

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First orbital rocket launched from mainland Europe crashes after takeoff

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Uncrewed Spectrum test rocket’s failure seconds after blast-off said to have produced extensive data nonetheless

A test rocket intended to kickstart satellite launches from Europe fell to the ground and exploded less than a minute after takeoff from Norway on Sunday, in what the German startup Isar Aerospace had described as an initial test.

The Spectrum started smoking from its sides and crashed back to Earth in a powerful explosion just after its launch from from the Andøya spaceport in the Arctic. Images were broadcast live on YouTube.

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Stockpile 72 hours of supplies in case of disaster or attack, EU tells citizens

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Bloc’s first preparedness strategy urges people to prepare for floods, fires, pandemics or military strikes

People in the EU are being advised to stockpile enough food, water and essentials for 72 hours as part of a European strategy that aims to increase readiness for catastrophic floods and fires, pandemics and military attacks.

Outlining its first preparedness strategy, the European Commission said it wanted to encourage citizens to take “proactive measures to prepare for crises, such as developing household emergency plans and stockpiling essential supplies”.

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Norwegian files complaint after ChatGPT falsely said he had murdered his children

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Arve Hjalmar Holmen, who has never been accused of or convicted of a crime, says chatbot’s response to prompt was defamatory

A Norwegian man has filed a complaint against the company behind ChatGPT after the chatbot falsely claimed he had murdered two of his children.

Arve Hjalmar Holmen, a self-described “regular person” with no public profile in Norway, asked ChatGPT for information about himself and received a reply claiming he had killed his own sons.

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Norwegian writer Dag Solstad dies aged 83

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A hugely influential novelist and critic, Solstad won the Norwegian Critics prize three times, and his work was translated by Haruki Murakami

Dag Solstad, a towering figure of Norwegian letters admired by literary greats around the world, has died aged 83.

Known for prose combining existential despair, political subjects and a droll sense of humour, Solstad won the Norwegian critics prize for literature an unprecedented three times.

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