How the loss of Norway multiplied Britain's requirements

Before Norway fell, Coastal Command could concentrate on the gap between Scotland and Norway and on the English Channel. German control opened northern bases to submarines and aircraft, enlarged the patrol area, and complicated access to the Atlantic. It also preserved German access to Norwegian iron ore and other useful resources while making later Arctic operations more dangerous. Britain therefore faced a larger air, naval, convoy, and supply problem at the same moment its prewar plans were being overturned.