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Local Norway
20-05-2025
- Climate
- Local Norway
Public warned as forest fire alert issued for western Norway
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute has upgraded the danger warning for forest fires to orange , Norway's highest level issued for fire danger. This warning is expected to remain in place until significant rainfall occurs, which may not come for days. Further inland, the danger remains at yellow level – still concerning, but less acute. "Vegetation can catch fire very easily: Do not use open flames, heed the warning that applies until Sunday," the Meteorological Institute warned. READ MORE: Norway's rules for fires and BBQs An ongoing risk The danger level was officially raised last week, with the probability of forest fires rated as likely (meaning, over 50 percent). The orange level indicates that there is a high probability of forest fires starting and a significant risk that they may grow to sizes that are difficult to manage. Large areas could be affected quickly, especially with rising temperatures, low humidity, and no rain in sight. Rapid ignition The Norwegian Meteorological Institute is clear about the potential consequences: "Vegetation can ignite very easily: Very large areas can be affected." In such dry conditions, a single spark – from a cigarette, campfire, or piece of machinery – can lead to a wildfire that spreads rapidly before firefighters can respond. Advertisement Advice to the public In response to the heightened risk, authorities are asking the public to avoid all forms of open flames and to closely follow instructions from local fire and civil protection services. Even outside of an orange warning, Norway enforces a general campfire ban from April 15th to September 15th. Open fires in or near forests, including barbecues and bonfires, are prohibited during this period unless a municipality explicitly states otherwise. EXPLAINED: What Norway's weather alerts actually mean The Norwegian warning system Forest fire warnings in Norway use a colour-coded system, primarily yellow and orange for fire danger. Red is reserved for extreme weather events with the potential for catastrophic damage and loss of life. Warnings are based on the Forest Fire Danger Index, calculated using temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind data. Advertisement This system, which has been in use since 2021, has been adapted from the Canadian Fire Weather Index and tailored to Norwegian climate conditions . The forest fire index operates on a "traffic light" model used internationally, ranging from green (safe) to red (extreme danger).
RTÉ News
28-04-2025
- Science
- RTÉ News
Summer 2024 was Lapland's warmest in 2,000 years: study
The summer of 2024 was the warmest in 2,000 years in the Lapland region of northern Finland, Norway and Sweden, driven by climate change, the Finnish Meteorological Institute said. "Last summer's average temperature in Lapland, or northern Fennoscandia, was the highest in both direct observations which we have from the late 1800s onwards and so-called indirect tree ring observations, of which the longest time series extends to 2,000 years ago," Mika Rantanen, researcher at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, said. He cited a study carried out by the Meteorological Institute and the Natural Resources Institute in Finland, published in US scientific journal Nature, showing that the summer of 2024 in the northern Finnish town of Sodankyla had been around 2.1 degrees Celsius warmer as a result of human-caused climate change. The mean temperature of 15.9C degrees between June and August 2024 broke the previous record dating back to 1937 by 0.4C degrees. Climate change increased the likelihood of such exceptionally warm summers by around a hundred times, the study estimated. "If it were not for climate change, the previous summer would have been a very, very rare event, occurring about once every 1,400 years," Dr Rantanen said. "In the current climate, however, such a summer is likely to reoccur every 16 years," he added. Dr Rantanen warned the region stretching over the northern areas of Finland, Sweden and Norway and parts of Russia was moving "beyond the natural range of variation" due to the soaring temperatures in the area. This was resulting in consequences such as more frequent heatwaves, forest fires and an increased greening of the tundra bringing irreversible changes to the sensitive Arctic ecosystems and its local populations. Compared to other parts of the globe, the Arctic region is warming four times faster since 1979, according to a study published in Nature in 2022. "We found out that in 2050, a summer as warm as the one we had last year would be so common that it would happen every four years. This warming will continue unless these global climate emissions can be limited," Dr Rantanen said.
