Talking about the weather is a serious business in Northern Norway. For a start, we call it “he”, as in “he’s in a bad mood today”. It’s not surprising, since the weather up here is amazingly entertaining and varied. However, what most visitors say is: “It’s not as cold as I thought it would be”.
The mild waters of the Gulf Stream give Northern Norway and Svalbard the mildest climate of anywhere on earth at this latitude. On the island of Værøy, well north of the Arctic Circle, the average temperature doesn’t go below freezing in any month of the year, and there’s no meteorological winter. Even the south-west coast of Svalbard is free of ice all year round.
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From Russia with love, southeast winds bring heatwaves to the north
Every now and then, Northern Norway basks in summer heatwaves from the southeast, bringing with them tropical nights and daytime temperatures into the thirties, and the highest temperatures are found in East Finnmark. Milk-bottle-white Northerners on the beach declare to TV cameras, “If it gets much warmer, I’m moving south”. Just as frequent are the north-easterlies, which bring sparklingly clear summer days with temperatures between 12oC and 18oC (54oF – 64oF).
Summer isn’t always warm
When a north-westerly is blowing in mid-July, the temperature drops to 4–5oC (around 40F) on the Finnmark coast, and the mountaintops in Troms get a light dusting of snow. South-westerlies bring mild, very damp weather, especially in the south. For an average summer holiday in Northern Norway, you can expect a little of everything, so pack everything from your swimming costume to a hat and gloves. Sunny pockets inland in places like Mo i Rana, Skibotn and Alta have the highest summer temperatures, while the outer coast gets the freshest and dampest weather.
Autumn is long and mild in Northern Norway. Autumn storms with women’s names tend to bring lots of rain, while high pressures bring lovely, mild daytime temperatures and bone-chilling night frosts. In the north, it’s not uncommon to wake up to a layer of snow in September, although this never lasts, whereas, along the Helgeland coast, snow sometimes isn’t seen until Christmas.
Winter weather can get stormy
Large stretches of the Nordland coast experience little snow and mild temperatures in winter. A south-westerly storm at the port in Bodø is a sight to behold. However, there is plenty of snow in the fjords at places such as Narvik and Mo i Rana. Cold, damp north-westerly winds sometimes dump huge quantities of snow on the coast of Vesterålen, Troms, and Finnmark. Houses in Hammerfest are evacuated because of the danger of avalanches, and the people of Tromsø shovel snow off their roofs. When the dreaded polar lows sweep in suddenly and unexpectedly from the Arctic Ocean towards the Finnmark coast, the flights are cancelled and the roads get blocked. Then, just as if the weather has just had a tantrum, it’s all over as suddenly as it began.
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Inland is where the real cold is
The Finnmark plain is the coldest part of mainland Norway, and the coldest temperature ever recorded in Karasjok is -51oC (-60oF). Inner Troms, the innermost part of Salten and Inner Helgeland also have a typical inland climate with cold winters and stable, fine weather. Because of the dry air, you don’t notice the cold as much, and if you wrap up well, it’s no problem to linger outside, looking for the Northern Lights— which, naturally, are seen most often when the weather is driest.
There is a fast and efficient spring
Spring is the driest, sunniest time of the year. At Saltfjellet mountain, Troms and Finnmark, as well as on Svalbard, the snow is still deep in April, inviting you to ski or go on snowmobile and ice-fishing trips. Along the Nordland coast, on the other hand, it’s time to enjoy a coffee in a sheltered spot in the sun. By May, the spring has put an end to all the skiing in Northern Norway, although you’re still not quite safe from snow showers. Reindeer calving time is at Whitsun, and the newborn reindeer calves often have to learn very quickly about the tough realities of life as it snows yet again.
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AltaAlta is the northern lights city with great winter weatherNorthern Lights
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Here is a table of selected locations in Northern Norway, organised from south to north. Coastal areas like Vega, Røst and Vardø are relatively mild in winter and cool in summer. Inland locations like Mosjøen, Bardufoss, Alta and Karasjok are cold in winter, and relatively warm in summer. Weather stations found along the inner sailing route, like Tromsø, Harstad and Bodø are somewhere between. Not that Røst has a winter temperature above freezing, whereas Vardø’s summer temperature never hits
Vega: 12,5 (July), -0,9(January)
Mosjøen: 13,0 (Jul), -6,9C/(Jan)
Bodø12,5 (Jul), -2,2 (Jan)
Røst: 10,7 (Jul), 1,1 (January/February)
Harstad: 12,3 (Jul), -2,8 (Jan)
Bardufoss: 13,0 (Jul), -10,4 (Feb)
Tromsø: 11,8 (Jul), -4,.4 (Jan)
Alta: 13,4 (Jul), -8,7 (Jan)
Karasjok: 13,1 (Jul), -17,1 (Jan)
Vardø: 9,2 (Jan), -5,4 (Feb)
Longyearbyen: 5,9 (Jul), -16,2 (Feb)
Weather extremes in Northern Norway
The records for the hottest temperature and the coldest temperature were both set on the Finnmark plain, while Upper Saltdal at the Arctic Circle had the hottest summer. Røst, in the middle of the Gulf Stream, had the mildest ever winter. On Lurøy in Helgeland, three metres (nine feet) of rain fell in one year, while Dividal in Inner Troms has a dry, steppe-like climate. The temperature has occasionally crept above 20oC (68oF) on Svalbard!
Cold record: Karasjok -51.4/60.5F
Heat record:Sič’čajav’ri 34.3/93.7F
Highest January average: Røst 1.1C/34F
Lowest January average: Karasjok -17.1 F/-1.2F
Highest July average: Øvre Saltdal 13.8/56.8
Lowest July average: Kleptovfjellet 8C/46.4
Driest location:Dividal 282 mm/11,1 in per year
Wettest location:Lurøy2935 mm/115.5 in per year
Cold record Svalbard:Green Harbour -49.4/56.9F
Heat record Svalbard:Svalbard’s airport 21.3 C/70.3F
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The mild waters of the Gulf Stream give Northern Norway and Svalbard the mildest climate of anywhere on earth at this latitude. On the island of Værøy, well north of the Arctic Circle, the average temperature doesn't go below freezing in any month of the year, and there's no meteorological winter.
Along the coast, temperatures usually stay around zero degrees Celsius. Inland, the temperatures are mostly lower and might sink down to 10-20 degrees below zero Celsius. Some places can even experience an bone chilling minus 40 degrees Celsius!
Winter weather can be severe, with frigid temperatures well below freezing. In some regions of Siberia, average January temperatures are lower than -40 °C (-40 °F). In the summer, the long days of sunshine thaw the top layer of frozen ground and bring average temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F).
Most of Norway has a maritime climate with mild winters and cool summers. Because of the influence of the North Atlantic Ocean, Norway has a much warmer climate than its latitudinal position would indicate.
Concurrent with this investigation, the WMO Archive of Extremes also lists the official lowest recorded temperature for areas at or north of the Arctic Circle as -69.6°C (-93.3°F) recorded on 22/ 12 (December)/ 1991 at Klinck AWS, Greenland [72°18'N, 40°28'W, elevation: 3216m (10551ft)].
In general, coastal areas have relatively mild and wet winters (but with snow in the mountains), while the inland regions have cold winters with plenty of snow, and hot and relatively dry summers, especially in the east of the country. Here, the temperatures normally lie around 20 degrees during summer.
Average temperatures range 12-18°C (52-65°F), often exceeding 25°C (77°F). Western Norway is often wet during summer. Whereas the air to the east of the mountains, including Oslo, the South Coast and the East Coast is drier and warm.
The Arctic climate varies throughout the seasons. Arctic Winters are dark and cold, with temperatures plummeting as low as -34°C at times!In the Summer months, temperatures range from 3°C to 12°C. Summer generally lasts about three months (beginning in June) and Winter begins to take hold in mid-September.
Average temperatures in summer are above freezing over all regions except the central Arctic Basin, where sea ice survives through the summer, and interior Greenland. The maps on the right show the average temperature over the Arctic in January and July, generally the coldest and warmest months.
Norway, especially its northern regions, experiences cold temperatures, especially during the winter months. The country has a diverse climate due to its varied topography, but areas within the Arctic Circle can be extremely cold.
Norway does not top the list of the most expensive countries in Europe, moreover, Oslo is no longer on the top 20 list of the most expensive cities in the world, according to Mercer's exhaustive 2023 cost of living city rankings.
Arctic ocean swimming has long been practiced in Iceland but in recent years the trend has become increasingly popular with more people than ever taking a dip into the icy Atlantic Ocean.
So we have unravelled the mystery: it is colder in Antarctica. And there are other reasons for this as well. Since it is an ocean, the Arctic is naturally located at sea level. Conversely, the average altitude of the Antarctic continent is 2,300 meters, and we know that the higher you go, the colder it gets.
Death Valley holds the record for the highest air temperature on the planet: On 10 July 1913, temperatures at the aptly named Furnace Creek area in the California desert reached a blistering 56.7°C (134.1°F). Average summer temperatures, meanwhile, often rise above 45°C (113°F).
In Oslo, the capital, average temperatures in July, the warmest month, are around 64.5°F (18°C), although it can get much hotter. Above the Arctic Circle, summer is considerably cooler, with averages in July of 54.5°F (12.5°C).
Daylight hours in Norway in January are short, with around 6 to 8 hours of daylight in Southern Norway and just 5 hours of daylight in Northern Norway, giving you plenty of time to spot these magical lights during the hours of darkness.
The country where 6 months are night and 6 months are day is Norway. Norway is located in the northernmost part of Europe and experiences a natural phenomenon called the "midnight sun" [2].
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