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Bergen’s public transport network disrupted by heavy snow

Heavy snow has caused problems across Bergen’s public transport network, and travellers have been told to prepare for cancellations, delays, and detours on Friday.

Published: 19 January 2024 10:40 CET

Pictured is a viewpoint of Bergen during wintery weather.

Travel in Bergen has been disrupted by wintery weather. Pictured is a viewpoint of Bergen during wintery weather. Photo by Kristina Manchenko on Unsplash

Travellers in Bergen have been told that more snow on Friday would likely pose extensive problems for Bergen’s public transport network.

“Slippery roads have been reported in several places in the county, which is now causing some delayed departures. We, therefore, ask travellers to allow plenty of time,” public transport firm Skyss wrote on its website.

“Difficult driving conditions on certain sections can also lead to departures having to be canceled at short notice. Also, be aware that when the roads are very slippery, the buses may have problems stopping at parking spaces on uphill slopes,” it added.

More than 38 centimeters of snow was measured in Bergen on Friday morning, the most snow the city has seen in January since 1987, according to meteorologists.

An orange warning of up to 40 centimetres of snow was in place in the counties of Vestaland and Rogaland on Thursday and Friday. Orange alerts are for serious weather situations and are issued when the institute expects extensive consequences.

Both buses and light rail have been disrupted in Bergen due to the weather. Certain stops and routes were not in operation due to the storm.

Skyss has a full overview on its website of routes and services that were disrupted due to the weather.

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'Coolcations': Tourists flock to Norway and Sweden to dodge summer heat

Far from her home in the tourist mecca of Tenerife, Cati Padilla is one of the growing number of travellers escaping heatwaves for cooler holidays in Nordic countries.

Countries like Norway and Sweden in northern Europe are now promoting “coolcations” to attract visitors to their temperate climates.

Why leave the Canaries in summer? “To escape the heat,” said Padilla while on holiday with her friends.

“Norway attracted our attention a long time ago because of the green landscape, the mountains and the ice,” added the civil servant in her fifties on the so-called “troll path”, a serpentine mountain route towards the fjords.

In 2023, foreign overnight stays rose by 22 percent in Norway and 11 percent in Sweden according to official statistics, mainly driven by the end of Covid-related restrictions in 2022 and a slump in Scandinavian currencies.

But a survey in Germany for tourist organisation Visit Sweden also found that two out of five people plan to change their travel habits due to the southern European heat, opting for different seasons or cooler destinations.

“Coolcation is not just about the weather,” said Susanne Andersson, head of Visit Sweden. “It’s about travelling to places where it’s a little bit cooler both in the weather but also cooler in the sense of not that many people.”

READ ALSO: Why are temperatures of 25C considered a heatwave in Sweden?

For some people, gone are the overcrowded Mediterranean beaches and heatwaves causing forest fires and the partial closure of the Acropolis in the Greek capital in June.

Nowadays, many prefer to take a dip in a lake or a fjord, or fill their lungs with fresh air on a mountain hike in relative isolation.

– Killer summer –

When British tourist Pam disembarked from a cruise ship on the majestic Geiranger Fjord, a UNESCO World Heritage site, she expected to find cool weather.

But she found herself in sandals and a t-shirt, rather than the raincoat and woollen clothes she packed.

“It’s been wonderful,” said the resident of Lichfield city in west-central England. “It’s still not that hot that you can’t walk.”

“It just does not interest me now to sit on a sunbed, read a book, get up, go and have something to eat and come back to the sunbed. I’d rather visit places, find the history and just look at beautiful places.”

READ MORE: How will Norway be affected by climate change-driven tourism?

The frequency and intensity of extreme heat events and the duration of heatwaves have “almost certainly” increased since 1950 and will continue to do so with global warming, according to UN climate experts.

By 2050, half of Europe’s population could face high or very high risk heat stress in summer, with heat-related deaths potentially doubling or tripling with temperature rises of between 1.5 degrees Celsius (34.7 degrees Fahrenheit) to 3C.

“Spain is a no. Greece is a no,” said 74-year-old French pensioner Gerard Grollier, as he disembarked from a coach in Geiranger village in western Norway.

Why Norway? “The climate is much more pleasant,” explained his daughter, Virginie, a financial adviser. “We have not protected our planet, and now that is impacting tourism.”

– Submerged villages –

The capital of Lapland in northern Finland, Rovaniemi, recorded a 29 percent jump in overnight stays last year.

“You can feel the ‘coolcation’ here, the trend started years ago but it has increased with the hot summers in southern and central Europe,” said Sanna Karkkainen, who promotes tourism in Rovaniemi.

The coolcation influx has its issues, including a surge in Airbnb properties and unruly tourists.

“Our main concern is to have too many people at the same time,” emphasised Jan Ove Tryggestad, former mayor of a Norwegian village where a cruise ship carrying 6,000 passengers and 2,000 crew members had just docked.

“It’s a small village here. In Hellesylt, there are between 280 to 300 winter inhabitants. Obviously it’s a bit of a culture shock when suddenly a small town, by European standards, turns up,” he added. “But we adapt.”

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