A jökulhlaup flood struck West Iceland’s Hvítá river in the early hours of Tuesday morning when water from a lagoon by the Langjökull glacier suddenly broke a new path and flowed in a different direction. Thick glacial mud now coats the river banks, and much of Borgarfjörður fjord.
The flooding started yesterday in the Grímsvötn volcano area. The water flow at the source of the discharge reaches 300 cubic metres per second. The jökulhlaup is expected to last about 24 hours, which is how long the water takes to get to the Gígjukvísl canal on Road 1.
The glacial flood, or jökulhlaup, is the first from the western cauldron in almost three years. This is considered to be a significantly lengthy break.
The yellow weather alert released yesterday for north and west Iceland has been strengthened to an orange weather warning for the Westfjords region that will stay in effect until midnight. Wind and rain are causing severe disruption.
Very heavy rain has affected South and East Iceland throughout Sunday and overnight. An area of Seyðisfjörður has been evacuated and road closures were announced in three places due to an avalanche, an ice flood, and a downed power line.
According to police sources, flow in the region’s swollen rivers dropped slightly overnight, but that this is likely explained because the air temperature usually drops overnight. Flow is expected to increase again today.
The road through Svínadalur, near Súlá river in Leirársveit, broke apart this morning, trapping three tourists who could not get their car out again.
The wet weather this summer and autumn in southwest Iceland is causing a major headache for the region’s potato farmers. Þykkvibær, one of the country’s best-known potato producers, is suffering a mould outbreak in its potato beds for the first time in 20 years and the soil is too wet for harvesting machines to get to work.
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