Winter driving on Senja

Before you drive

• Tyres and chains

  In Troms, winter tyres with at least 3 mm tread are required from 16 October to 30 April, and studded tyres are allowed in the same period, on all four wheels. Rental cars come with winter tyres. Motorhomes and other vehicles over 3,500 kg need 5 mm tread and must carry chains.

• Carry in the car

  Ice scraper and snow brush, warm clothes and a blanket, a torch, a charged phone and some food and drink. If a road closes or a lorry gets stuck, you can be stationary for hours. Plan to manage an evening in the car.

• Keep to the right

  The most common dangerous situation on Senja in winter is tourists driving in the middle of the road, especially in bends and over crests, because the road is narrow and the snow banks are high. The police say the same: many drivers keep to the middle to stay away from the banks, and stop in blind spots. It has caused head-on collisions and cars off the road on the island, and fatal accidents in the region. Stay on your side all the time, even when you see nobody, and pull in to the edge when you meet someone. The people who live here drive these roads every day and expect you to do the same.

• Lights, speed and distance

  Dipped headlights are compulsory around the clock in Norway. The speed limit outside built-up areas is 80 km/h, but on ice and snow the limit is what you can stop within: keep three times the usual distance and brake early and gently. The blood alcohol limit is 0.02 %.

• Narrow roads and tunnels

  Many stretches have room for one car, with passing places marked by a blue sign with an M. Fish lorries from the outer coast do not give way to cars, and if one gets stuck the road can be blocked for hours. Stop at the passing place in good time, never reverse in a tunnel, and let locals pass where it is safe.

• Polar night and visibility

  During the polar night (30.11.2026 – 12.01.2027) the sun stays below the horizon, and there is daylight only for a few hours around midday. Drifting snow cuts visibility on the outer coast and over the mountain passes. Check the forecast several times a day, and if a storm comes, stay where you are until it passes.

• Closed roads and avalanches

  The county roads are ploughed all winter but close when the avalanche danger is high or snow is drifting, most often Fv 862 between Mefjordbotn and Senjahopen. If you meet a barrier, do not open it. Closed roads are at the top of the card on this page, turn the front page amber, and are reported on 175.

• Moose and reindeer

  Moose and reindeer walk on the road, especially at dusk and around Finnfjordbotn, southern Senja and towards Dyrøy. Slow down where there is forest and high snow banks. If you hit an animal, call the police on 02800 and mark the spot. Hitting an animal is not an offence, but not reporting it is, and insurance will not cover the damage without a report.

• Fuel and charging

  Distances are long, chargers are few, and many petrol stations are unstaffed pumps that need a card with a PIN. Fill up when you can, not when it is critical. Electric cars use more power in the cold, so expect a shorter range. Stations and chargers are listed under Places.

• Aurora from the car

  Stop only in a lay-by or on a widened shoulder, never on the carriageway, in a bus stop or at a passing place. Turn the lights off and look north. A sign with an aurora camera is not a parking space, and the snowplough comes at night too.

• Parking

  Use marked spaces and pay by card or app. Do not park at passing places, in private driveways or on the roadside, and if a car park is full, move on. The ploughing crews need the space at night.

• Ferries and boats in winter

  The Gryllefjord–Andenes ferry runs only in summer. Botnhamn–Brensholmen and the Finnsnes–Tromsø express boat run all year but can be cancelled in storms. Departures and cancellations are on the Ferries and express boats page.

• Driving other tourists needs a licence

  Carrying passengers for payment requires an operator licence and a professional driver permit in Norway, also in a rental car or minibus. There have been several cases here of foreign tour leaders driving groups without such a licence. It is illegal, the driver has not been vetted, and the passengers are worse protected if something happens. Book transport with a company holding a Norwegian licence, and ask to see it if in doubt.

• If something happens

  Emergency: 112 police, 113 ambulance, 110 fire. Traffic: 175. Mobile coverage drops out in several fjords and tunnels, so tell someone where you are driving. If you get stuck in a storm, stay in the car with the hazard lights on and run the engine only for short spells.

What has happened here

The cases below are documented by Norwegian media and the police. The links go to the newspapers, in Norwegian; some need a subscription.

1. 02.10 2026Rental car with tourists stopped at Finnfjordeidet: the driver is suspected of driving tourists for payment without a licence, driving licence seized. NRK
2. 01.10 2026Opinion: the measures against tourist accidents on northern winter roads are not good enough. The photo shows tourists in the ditch at Straumsbotn on Senja on 27 March 2025. Folkebladet
3. 13.08 2026Video from the Breitind tunnel on Fv 862, seen over a million times: this is how narrow the road is, and how the bus driver warns oncoming traffic. VG
4. 26.02 2026The traffic police checked 15 people in aurora tourism on Senja: two tour leaders without a licence reported, passports and car keys seized, expulsion considered. Nordlys
5. 30.01 2026The regional traffic police chief: tourists drive in the middle of the road and stop in blind spots. The same week two women died in a head-on collision on the E10 in Tjeldsund; a foreign tourist is charged. VG / Våganavisa
6. 19.01 2026Road authority check at Botnhamn: two taxis used for tourist transport had no licence and were banned from driving on, a tourist bus reported for breaking driving and rest rules. NRK
7. 20.02 2025Fjordgård: several tourist cars in the ditch on an icy road the same day; the winter maintenance contractor on Senja says tourists without winter experience create dangerous situations. Dagbladet
8. 18.02 2025An Australian tourist collided head-on with an oncoming car on Senja in summer 2024 and has been sentenced to prison. Nordlys
9. 16.02 2025Four tourist cars left the road in Fjordgård within a few hours: one hit a lamp post, one drove into the car in front, two tow trucks and neighbours had to pull them out. Harstad Tidende / Folkebladet
10. 31.07 2024A lorry driver who has driven Senja for ten years fears a serious accident: the roads are overloaded, tourists stop where they should not, and the police confirm it. NRK