Avalanches Close Roads In North Iceland, Met Office Issues Warning

Avalanches on the Tröllaskagi peninsula in northern Iceland closed roads yesterday, but there were no reports of injury or damage to inhabited areas.

One event has blocked some local roads, including Siglufjarðarvegur and Ólafsfjarðarvegur between Dalvík and Ólafsfjörður. More details are available on the website of the Road Authority.

RÚV reports that there is no imminent danger to inhabited areas, but the Meteorological Office expect the recent heavy snowfall to continue over the next few days and have issued an uncertainty warning for the area.

Unfortunately avalanches are not uncommon in Iceland during the winter. A year ago in the Westfjords, three avalanches hit the region around Flateyri and Suðureyri in one night. Thankfully there were no injuries, unlike in the same region in 1995 when avalanches claimed a total of 34 lives in two separate events.

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