Storm Floris lashes Norway: Transport hit as public warned to avoid travel
"The strongest gusts are expected along the coast and in the mountains," state meteorologist Alexander Skeltved told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (
NRK
).
High waves are also expected along the coast and into some fjords, he said.
The heaviest rainfall is expected first in the southern parts of Western Norway, where a yellow warning has been issued with between 80 and 120 mm of rain within 24 hours.
The storm had an impact on flights with a SAS flight from Copenhagen to Kristiansand and the return flight both cancelled.
The dangerous conditions forced widespread ferry cancellations.
All
Fjord Line
departures on Tuesday were cancelled, impacting thousands of passengers.
Operator Color Line cancelled all Tuesday departures between Norway and Denmark due to the storm, the company's head of communications, Erik Brynhildsbakken, told Norwegian media
VG
yesterday evening.
The cancellations affect a total of eight crossings between Hirtshals in Denmark and Norwegian ports Kristiansand and Larvik.
Just over 8,500 passengers will be affected by the cancellations, Brynhildsbakken told VG.
'We can't do much about the weather, so we had to adjust to Floris,' he said.
Residents in affected areas are urged to stay indoors, avoid unnecessary travel, and monitor further weather updates on
varsom.no
as the storm system moves north.
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In addition to the weather forecast, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) has issued yellow warnings for both floods and landslides for parts of Western Norway, Møre og Romsdal and Innlandet.
The consequence may be local flooding and erosion damage in streams and rivers.
By Tuesday afternoon the worst of the storm had passed, although strong gusts of wind may still occur during the day in western Norway, Agder and the Oslofjord, meteorologist Tone Christin Thaule of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute told news agency NTB.
'The low-pressure system has now made landfall northwest of Bergen and is therefore calming down, but we still expect quite a bit of wind until this evening,' she said.
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