Norway’s 56-year heat record likely to stand

Norway’s national heat record of 35.6°C, set in Nesbyen in 1970, will probably remain unbroken despite this week’s heatwave, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.

Duty meteorologist Pernille Borander told Dagbladet that temperatures were now unlikely to exceed 35°C on Wednesday, and even less likely to be verified by an official station.

“It’s very unlikely we’ll pass 35 degrees today, and it’s even less likely we’ll have a station that can confirm it. We’ve lost faith in a new national record,” she said.

Nesbyen mayor Anne Kari Eriksen said the town was “very happy” to retain the title of Norway’s hottest place for now. “The record has become part of our identity,” she said.

Borander noted that climate change made a new national record a matter of time. “It’s getting warmer and warmer. Our researchers say that with human-induced climate change, it’s only a question of time before we get a new record. Temperatures between 35 and 40 degrees are becoming more likely.”

In 2019, a reading of 35.6°C in Laksfors, Nordland, was disqualified due to non-compliant station conditions.

While the national record appears safe, local and county records may still fall. Forecasts suggest temperatures of 30–35°C in parts of southern and eastern Norway, with possible new July records in Innlandet, Agder, Buskerud, and Telemark.