Wet and Cold July in Northern Norway, but Svalbard Sets New Heat Record

Svalbard reached 15.4 °C on 31 July, the warmest reading on the archipelago in 2026 up to that point, according to figures from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute reported by High North News. The same month brought a new July record for mean temperature at Sørkappøya: 5.9 °C, which is 0.4 °C above the record held before.

On the Norwegian mainland, the institute described July in Northern Norway as unusually wet and cool. Lurøy, in Nordland, was the rainiest measuring station in the whole country, with 349.7 millimetres of precipitation. Several places in the region had a month colder than normal. Narvik averaged 6.1 °C, and the Senja stations in Troms averaged 5.9 °C, which put both among the coldest locations.

Finnmark did not follow that pattern. Temperatures in the county were above normal, and the northernmost parts of it had a month that the institute classified as very warm.

The article contrasts this with the rest of Europe, where heatwaves and temperature records affected large areas. Several countries on the mainland of the continent had long periods of heat, severe drought and large wildfires during July, and some regions also had intense rainstorms and thunderstorms.

Near the end of July, a weather system travelled north out of Central Europe and reached parts of Troms and Finnmark.