Green light for mining waste deposit in Førdefjorden

News from Bergen / Vestland over the past 48 hours: Norway's Ministry of Climate and Environment has granted a new permit for the disposal of mining waste in the Førdefjorden for three years. The decision comes just a few months after a ruling by the Norwegian Supreme Court that invalidated the previous permits in June. The organisation Naturvernforbundet denounces a "serious breach" of this court ruling, which it considers to be flouted. Meanwhile, Brann has qualified for the next round of the UEFA Women's Europa Cup, and the Bergen-based rapper Teddy has been crowned "Årets Urørt" 2026.

Førdefjorden: three more years for mining waste deposit

The Klima- og miljødepartementet has given its consent to the continuation of mining waste disposal in the Førdefjorden for three additional years (NRK Bergen / Vestland). The fjord is located in Sunnfjord municipality (Vestland county).

Naturvernforbundet reacts to this decision: the organisation speaks of a "serious breach" (grovt brot) of a ruling by the Norwegian Supreme Court (NRK Bergen / Vestland). It considers that the permit granted for three years contradicts this court ruling.

Bergen news: Brann continue European run

Brann's women footballers dominated HJK Helsinki 4-0 at Brann Stadion and qualify for the next round of the Europa Cup (NRK Bergen / Vestland). This score adds to their 2-0 victory in the first leg in Helsinki the previous week, bringing the cumulative score to 6-0.

Laura Davidson opened the scoring (1-0). Shortly after the break, Dilja Zomers doubled the lead. Anna Aahjem, who came on after an hour of play, scored two fast goals to fix the final score at 4-0 (NRK Bergen / Vestland).

Brann's players, Norwegian champions after winning the 2025 Toppserien season, continue their European campaign.

Culture: rapper Teddy crowned "Årets Urørt" 2026

Teddy, real name Theo Myking, 25, from Bergen, has been named "Årets Urørt" 2026 at the final held at Rockefeller in Oslo (NRK Bergen / Vestland). This is the 26th edition of the Urørtfinalen.

He was in the final against the club music group Karbon and the country group Cowboyfrokost. The show was opened with a message from the artist Ravi. Teddy describes his music as radical and "queer," and raps in both Norwegian and English. "Dere har god smak" ("You have good taste"), the rapper said at the moment the result was announced (NRK Bergen / Vestland).

Weather: 26.2 °C, the hottest day of the year in Bergen

On Wednesday, the maximum temperature reached 26.2 °C at the Florida measuring station in central Bergen (NRK Bergen / Vestland). Duty meteorologist Ingrid Bentsen recorded 26.1 °C at the time of measurement, making it the hottest day of the year in the city. The previous record, 26.0 °C, dated from August 2026.

On the urban beaches of Marineholmen and Småpudden, bathers settled in with sunglasses and swimsuits. NRK met Seb Vestars, a Dutch student on exchange in Bergen for two months, who came for a swim: he describes the water as very cold compared with the air temperature, but a quick dip entirely bearable. He finds it surprising that the hottest day of the year comes at the end of September (NRK Bergen / Vestland). Bergens Tidende headlined, in its Thursday edition, "Ny superdag i sikte".

Health and economy: operations on the rise, debate over data centres

Bergens Tidende reports on Thursday that the region has carried out roughly a thousand additional operations, while remaining far from the target set by the government. The regional daily also raises a question in the same edition: where has the opposition to the data-centre boom gone? (Bergens Tidende).

Among other headlines of the day, the same paper notes that a restaurant not planning to take part in the upcoming Bergen Spiser event (starting 2 October) is worried about being left empty (Bergens Tidende).

📌 Local briefs

The other Bergen / Vestland news items over these 48 hours are more local. A motorcycle accident involving two vehicles occurred on the county road between Os and Samnanger, in Bjørnafjorden municipality. An ambulance helicopter was sent to the scene. The two people were conscious, one described as slightly hurt; the road was closed and tow trucks were sent for the two motorcycles (NRK Bergen / Vestland).

On Wednesday afternoon, a rescue operation was launched in Bergen after a report of a possible fall into the sea linked to an air-sports accident. It was called off at 19:18, without result, despite substantial resources deployed since 17:53 (NRK Bergen / Vestland).

At Voss, two people were rescued after a boat encountered problems on Vangsvatnet. One was airlifted to Haukeland hospital, the other to Voss hospital (NRK Bergen / Vestland).

Police are continuing the search for a 21-year-old man from Sveio, missing since the previous Thursday in Haugesund. The at-sea searches, notably on Tuesday, yielded no result; the teams were due to set off again from Killingøy heading north on Wednesday afternoon, with new plans to comb the coastline and search by drone (NRK Bergen / Vestland).

According to Bergens Tidende, a man already being prosecuted for stabbing members of his family has been charged with rape of young girls (Bergens Tidende, 30 September).

Sources: NRK Bergen / Vestland, Bergens Tidende, The Local Norway — Period: 30 September 2026 and 01 October 2026