Mysterious smoke in central Norway may come from Eastern Europe

A mysterious veil of smoke is reported in the air over much of Norway this weekend. It probably comes from Eastern Europe, meteorologists believe.

From Lillehammer in the south to Trøndelag in the north, many have wondered what is the mysterious smoke they see in the sky on Fridays and Saturdays. Meteorologists have different theories, but agree that it probably came from Eastern Europe.

– We have the so-called trajectory measurements where we can see where the air that we have above us comes from. So somehow we can warn the weather in time. What we see now is that the air is from Eastern Europe, state meteorologist Martin Granerød tells Gudbrandsdølen Dagningen.

He believes there is talk of airborne dust from agricultural areas in Eastern Europe, and that dust particles have been lifted from dry fields and blown away by strong winds.

Smoke has also been seen in Trøndelag, and on-duty meteorologist Jon Austerheim at the Meteorological Institute says he believes it is smoke from wildfires in Ukraine.

– It may come from an area with more misty air than we are used to, but it may be that there is an extra source now that we are used to. It is not entirely inconceivable that there is smoke from the forest fire in Ukraine, because it has been blowing from the southeast for a long time, Austerheim tells Adresseavisen.

Recently, a series of major forest fires have broken out in eastern Ukraine, killing at least nine people and sending 14 to hospital after the ravages of the fire. According to Euronews, there have been as many as 146 fires in the region in the last week.