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Wet and Cold July in Northern Norway, but Svalbard Sets New Heat Record
While heatwaves and temperature records have swept across large parts of Europe, Northern Norway faced a starkly different reality, enduring an unusually cool and rain-soaked July.
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July was an unusually wet and chilly month for Northern Norway, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
The country’s wettest measuring station was Lurøy in Nordland, Northern Norway, which recorded a staggering 349.7 millimetres of precipitation.
"Very warm" in Finnmark
Several locations across Northern Norway experienced a colder month than usual. Among the coldest were the stations on Senja in Troms, with an average temperature of 5.9 degrees celsius, and Narvik with 6.1 degrees celsius.
In Finnmark, however, the situation was different. Temperatures there were warmer than normal, stting the county apart from the rest of the reigon.
The northern parts of Finnmark in particular saw the month classified as "very warm".
New July record for Svalbard
Svalbard recorded its highest temperature right at the end of the month. On July 31, the temperature eached 15.4 degrees Celsius - the highest temperature measured on the archipelago so far this year. A new July record for average temperature was also set on Sørkappøya at 5.9 degrees Celsius – 0.4 degrees above the previous record.
Meanwhile, extreme weather persisted across mainland Europe. Prolonged heatwaves, severe drought, and major wildfires affected several countries throughout July. Certain regions were also hit by intense rainstorms and thunderstorms.
Towards the end of the month, a weather system moved northward from Central Europe, leading to a severe weather warnings for torrential rain in parts of Troms and Finnmark.
