deep inside the arctic, for much of the year, svalbard is a white wonderland.h heavy snowfall, there also comes the risk of avalanches. and that can endanger the communities that live here. as you can see, longyearbyen sits at the bottom of two steep—sided mountains, and increasingly it's come under the threat of avalanches. around the world, these hazards occur in mountainous regions when a mass of snow builds up on an incline then suddenly flows downhill. in 2015 a devastating avalanche swept into town causing the loss of two lives. two years later, an avalanche struck again, severely damaging homes here. it has been dangerous. we had two big avalanches going straight into town and of course people died, so it was quite serious. above longyearbyen, physical barriers have been erected to hold back the snow and a huge protective wall has been built. and they've also turned to tech. so here we can see one of our stations. an early warning system that uses snow sensors and mobile technology has been piloted here by telecom firm telenor and the university of svalb