Tag Archives: Longyearbyen municipal government
FRIENDLY WARNING: New avalanche/weather information board for travellers, automatic SMS critical alerts to everyone in Svalbard regardless of residency offered by UNIS and city

Photo by Maria Philippa Rossi/UNIS
Getting important and possibly lifesaving alerts about things like high avalanche risk is now considerably easier thanks to high-profile avalanche/weather information station at the edge of Longyearbyen leading to Adventdalen, plus the automating of urgent SMS alerts to everyone in Svalbard even if they’re not registered residents.
SOLFESTUKA CANCELLED, AIRPORT CHECKS HEIGHTENED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS: City urges other events organizers to evaluate plans; stricter flight rules means all passengers will be questioned

Update 6:45 p.m.: The Norwegian Polar Institute has also announced it is cancelling much of its travel and meetings.
Original story: The remainder of the events for this year’s Solfestuka festival have been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns and organizers of other events are being urged to evaluate their plans, Longyearbyen’s city government announced Wednesday. In addition, Svalbard Airport announced heightened scrutiny of all passengers following stricter guidelines imposed by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
(This is a breaking story in progress. More details being added now and as they become available.)