‘Dangerous’ reason you should never walk under red flags on streets in Norway

You might be guilty of ignoring red flags in your relationships, but you best be paying attention to them while wandering through the streets of Norway.

You are likely to run into a few of these warning signs while exploring the Scandinavian country, where temperatures can drop drastically, so make sure you are watching where you are going.

Take a look at this:

A Brit who moved to the Norway's capital, Oslo, shared a video on social media detailing the 'dangerous' reason you should never walk underneath one of the red flags, as it could have dire consequences.

TikTok user Emma Wali explained that they are often dotted around the city streets, outside shops, apartment blocks and other buildings, especially throughout the colder months.

Her educational clip racked up a whopping 3.4million views today (8 January), just five days after she shared it, so it's safe to say the content of it piqued the interest of a lot of internet users.

Emma often shares videos of her life abroad on her social media accounts, showing how life differs in Oslo compared to the UK and elsewhere - and how she tries to stay warm in temperatures as low as -24 degrees. Yikes.

TikTok/@heywali

But one of her latest clips discussing the importance of the mysterious red flags proved to be the most popular.

Emma warned: "Never walk under these in Oslo,” while including footage of one of the brightly coloured signs suspended next to a shop.

"When you are walking around the city, you are probably going to see some red flags like this," she explained. "They often hang outside shops and apartment blocks, they are super dangerous if you walk under them."

But what is so scary about a red flag? Well...

Emma continued: "If you take a look up, you can see snow and massive icicles hanging. These red flags identify where the ice and snow might drop down onto the street."

So avoiding these particular red flags might save your life, or at least a hospital trip with a serious concussion.

TikTok/@heywali

Emma admitted she initially had no idea about the purpose of them when she first arrived, but said she began to seriously take notice of them because her 'neighbour knows someone who died from falling ice'.

The firm who erected the red flags seen in the video, Rasfare.no, specialise in safe ice removal, snow traps, warning signs and roof rehabilitation.

Their website states: "Rasfare.no removes dangerous icicles and snow quickly and efficiently!

"We've all heard our horror stories of long and pointy icicles falling on the heads of passers-by. Everyone knows how dangerous this can be, and if you cooperate with us, the chance of accidents and injuries is reduced considerably.

TikTok/@heywali

"We take the work of ice removal seriously when the work takes place at height, but also because this work prevents personal injuries every single year. To make the job faster, we use experienced climbers or lift trucks, depending on what is most appropriate from building to building."

Norwegian publication NRK reported that these flags are issued by safety companies and the owner of a building is responsible for setting up a warning sign to inform passersby ice or snow could possibly fall on them.

According to the country's laws and police, they must also then clean up the weather debris and ensure it is safe before the red flag can be removed.

So there you have it. Don't forget to look up while you're next taking in the sights in Oslo.