South Iceland Struggles In The Face Of Extratropical Cyclone

As pretty much all roads in the country are closed right now due to the extratropical cyclone rolling over Iceland, it bears mentioning that some places are getting hit harder than others. Reykjavík is on lockdown until 15:00 today, as the storm is moving from the southwest, but other parts of South Iceland are contending with even worse conditions.

Keeping electrical power flowing in the region has been the biggest concern for the region. RÚV reports that the power was knocked out in Vík, on Iceland’s south coast, as wind speeds rose to 27 metres per second with gusts hitting as hard as 50 metres per second.

In the Westman Islands, where the storm is currently hitting the hardest, power is reportedly “hanging by a thread”, and there have been power disturbances or power outages across the southwest region today.

RARIK, Iceland’s State Electricity, have workers dispatched across the country to try and keep the lights on. You can actually help them do that by reporting power outages when and where they occur, and they have a handy contact page for that purpose.

The worst of the storm is expected to peak in South Iceland at around noon today, but will be continuing its journey northwards. It will likely all be over later tonight. Do not travel anywhere today. Follow both the weather forecast and road conditions, linked first in this article, to stay updated.