The left-wing opposition in Norway has won the country's general election, according to preliminary results.

Early results indicate the end of the centre-right government which ruled the country for eight years under Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

Exit polls suggest Støre’s centre-left party will win 48 seats in Norway’s 169-seat parliament, with his preferred three-party coalition on course for a slim majority of 88 MPs.

This indicates Solberg is set to be ousted by a left-wing coalition headed by Jonas Gahr Støre.

Negotiations could have a major impact on fossil fuel production in western Europe’s largest oil and gas producer, with the Socialist Left opposing further exploration and the Greens, on course for seven MPs, demanding a halt to production by 2035.

Climate change and economic inequality dominated the election campaign after the publication last month of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s stark warning that global heating is dangerously close to spiralling out of control.