Hofsós

A severe northeast blizzard in northwest Iceland led police to close a 120 km stretch of Route 1 including Holtavörðuheiði, prompting the Icelandic Red Cross to open emergency shelters in Blönduós and Hrútafjörður for stranded travelers.

A dead humpback whale washed ashore on the outer Eyjafjörður coast near the farm Áshól over the weekend. Police notified relevant agencies; the carcass will be left in place as it poses no immediate hazard.

Berry farm owners Bjarni and Hrafnhildur at Vellir in Svarfaðardal report that this year’s wild blueberry harvest has started unusually early, with three shipments already arriving for sale.

Dozens of pilot whales were stranded in Ólafsfjörður on June 21, but ICE-SAR teams managed to refloat them and guide them safely back to open water.

Unusually heavy rainfall struck northern Iceland’s town of Ólafsfjörður on 4–5 June 2025, prompting fire brigade pumping operations, minor debris flows, and continued landslide and avalanche hazards. A debris-flow specialist warns such downpours occur only once every few decades.

A farmer in Skagafjörður faces significant losses, having to replant around 20% of their pastures after major winter floods. Héraðsvötn breached a protective embankment, burying the fields in sand and silt.

This breeding season for ptarmigans has been the fourth worst on record in northern Iceland, due in part to a June snowstorm.

There is considerable damage to a house on Aðalgatu in Siglufjörður after the roof came off in a storm last night. Ólöf Rún Erlendsdóttir, reporter, and Sölvi Andrason, cameraman, are in Siglufjörður and sent pictures of the damage.

No one was injured in a landslide that occurred yesterday in Varmahlíð, North Iceland, though two houses sustained significant damage. Nine homes on four different streets in the town have been evacuated. The evacuation will remain in force until after the region’s local Civil Protection and Emergency Management Committee meets this morning to assess the […]

No one was on the grounds when the avalanche occurred early this morning, though staff noticed it when they arrived in the area, located in Skarðsdalur valley. The ski lodge was displaced from its foundation by the avalanche.

The Department of Civil Protection has raised the level of alert from Uncertain to Dangerous, due to a risk of avalanches. This morning it was found that an avalanche had fallen on the Skarðsdalur Ski area. Nine houses in Siglufjörður will be evacuated.

Vegagerðin (the Road and Coastal Administration) is encouraging people to postpone journeys on Route 1 in the west and northwest of the country due to significant amounts of tar bleeding from the road surface and causing considerable danger and damage to vehicles. Clumps of tar collect and harden on the tyres of passing vehicles, making driving treacherous. Chunks fly off and have been causing some serious damage.

A sperm whale beached itself in the northwest Iceland region of Skaga, the Northwest Iceland Nature Agency reports.

The building, 30 feet to the gable, is buried in snow.

100 dead horses have been found following the major storm that hit Iceland last week. Some are still missing and the search continues. Some horses are known to remain in danger and vets say that farmers are exhausted.

A storm bringing hurricane force winds and blizzard conditions is raging across the country.

“I could hardly believe my eyes,” said Ingólfur Sveinsson, resident of the Skagi peninsula.

Grain harvests in North Iceland this autumn do not look encouraging, farmers say. A frost in late August damaged the corn and wet weather in the autumn has delayed harvests.

The Common Rock Crab has begun to grow rapidly in number around Icelandic shores. It was first seen in Hvalfjörður, West Iceland, in the year 2006. This summer, it has reached Eyjafjörður in North Iceland.

Visitors to Eyjafjörður fjord in North Iceland could be lucky enough to meet with the spectacle of up to 20 humpback whales currently sojourning there.