Norwegians went from a hot summer to a long-delayed autumn, but now have every indication that winter is coming. The first snow from north to south made roads slippery heading into the weekend, halting some traffic and leading to a few accidents.

Northern Norway is accustomed to snow in October and warnings were up from Finnmark to Nordland counties. Some areas got as much as 20-30 centimeters of snow and lots of trucks weren’t prepared for it. At least one large truck from Finland ran off the E8 highway at Skibotndalen in Troms, and driving conditions were challenging over Saltfjellet and Bjørnfjell.

Farther south in Østerdalen, several large trucks without chains or winter tires yet had to pull over and wait for road conditions to improve. Temperatures had fallen below zero in many areas including mountain passes in central Norway, including roads to Nordfjord and from Lesja to Dombås.

It was even sleeting as far south as Hamar Friday morning, although it melt upon hitting the ground and the sun shone all afternoon. Temperatures in Southern Norway fell abruptly from the high-teens to single digits and close to zero, with the cold weather expected to continue into next week.

NewsinEnglish.no staff