Norway

Rainbowsend

I am going to Norway in late November, can anyone offer any info on what weather conditions I can expect? I will be travelling from Bergen to Kirkenes and back starting end of November and returning 8th December. I havent a clue what to expect......I am hoping for snow and ice and clear skies!! Am I going to be disappointed and get lots of wind and rain???

Would love to hear from anyone that has been there.:D

Pauly086

Hi, I was in oslo nearly the exact time last year and the weather we got was damp and cold but no heavy rain. It was dry every night and was cold but not to cold. We took a trip on a bus up to the mountains to do some snowboarding and the snow was great up there, but there was little snow in the city!

nordisk celt83

Rainbowsend wrote: »

I am going to Norway in late November, can anyone offer any info on what weather conditions I can expect? I will be travelling from Bergen to Kirkenes and back starting end of November and returning 8th December. I havent a clue what to expect......I am hoping for snow and ice and clear skies!! Am I going to be disappointed and get lots of wind and rain???

Would love to hear from anyone that has been there.:D

Be prepared for wind and rain, but you never know you might be lucky. Bergen is known as the rainiest city in Europe.
My mother's family is from Western Norway. Along the coast it usually doesn't snow that much (just lots of rain) but further inland it snows lots.

Basically, it rains more in Norway than Ireland!

Rainbowsend

[quote=nordisk

Basically, it rains more in Norway than Ireland![/quote]
Great.........I am sure I will enjoy it what ever the weather tho a bit of
snow would be nice What about Kirkenes can I expect snow there?

nordisk celt83

Rainbowsend wrote: »

Great.........I am sure I will enjoy it what ever the weather tho a bit of
snow would be nice What about Kirkenes can I expect snow there?

Hey again,

I was focussin mainly on the Western Norway bit. My family's from Bergen, so was thinkin bout there mainly.
You should definitely get snow up north. It's quite possible to get snow in Bergen, (a lot more likely than in Ireland) but just not something I'd associate with my childhood memories, which are just rain rain rain.
Then again we never really went on holidays in Winter, so they may be exaggerating the lack of snow. It's kind of a brag over there!
I've never been up North, so really couldn't advise you much about there. The Lofoten Islands look absolutely amazing though.

nordisk celt83

To be totally honest, I didn't actually know where Kirkenes was until I googled it. I assumed it was somewhere near Bergen... Pretty bad I know!:(

edit: and I only googled it after your reply!

edit: also should have added that the further north you go the less rain, and more clear skies and snow you should get.

NorDub

Hi, I'd say expect anything from cold rain via sleet and ice to snow. It's still quite early in winter, things aren't settled yet and it's quite unpredictable. Strong winds, however, will be highly probable, so be prepared for a few interesting plane landings, especially if you plan to fly along the West coast. (I suspect you're taking Hurtigruten, though?)

You may get a nice cold spell, certainly much more so in Kirkenes, for sure. Conditions may also change quite fast. From my experience (have been living in Mid-Norway for about 10 years now, except for 2.5 years in Ireland) November/early December can be the nastiest and dreariest time of the year. Although last year hasn't been too bad: 1-2 weeks rain/sleet and storms which then turned to snow and stayed so - on 21 November I started going skiing in 30-70cm powder! I was in Bergen around 11/12 December and they had a tiny bit of snow but also quite some ice on the ground everywhere. Just around zero degrees IIR, Trondheim had its first long cold spell with -10 to -15.

Rain-wise nordisk_celt is perfectly right. It seems that most of the time the weather systems from Ireland move East, gain some power again, hit the Norwegian West Coast near Stavanger after 2-3 days and then move North along the coast. ;-)

Anyways, enjoy your trip!

Rainbowsend

Thanks for your replies! Yep will be doing the round trip Hurtigruten, so I can look forward to rough seas up and back? No matter I will take the sea sick pills and enjoy the scenery as I am hanging over the side

Tabnabs

Ahem, Bergen may get a little light sprinkling of soft rain (;)) but on the islands outside Bergen, you'll find the driest place in Norway :P

The hurgtigruten is one of the best sea voyages in the world. Just beware one thing is that it wouldn't get bright until quite late in the morning and then it gets dark early. You got a cheap deal then eh?

Rainbowsend

Thanks Dyflin, I wouldnt say "cheap" but all in all it is probably good value for money, I must say I am looking forward to it, I dont mind what weather I get but the other half is a fair weather kind of bloke. I am hoping for calm seas snow and ice and lots of Northern lights when I get up to more northern parts, fingers crossed

ps....."soft rain" I can cope with after all I live in Ireland;)

Tabnabs

Here are some pics to whet your appetite;

First

Second

Third

Rainbowsend

Thanks Dyflin cant wait "my" ship was featured the Midnatsol!

Tabnabs

Midnatsol has two webcams aboard too

http://www.bt.no/kamera/article239161.ece