Cyclone In Iceland: Roads Closed Pretty Much Everywhere

Yesterday’s cyclone across Iceland has begun to lose steam in the west of the country, but not without leaving behind considerable damage in its wake—most evidently when it comes to road conditions. Further, conditions are worsening in the northeast and temperatures are falling fast.

As can be seen on the official site of The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration (IRCA), nearly all connecting roads across the country are still closed at the time of this writing.

The only exceptions to this are roads in the greater Reykjavík area, some coastal roads in the east and the west, and roads on Suðurnes’ most western point. Everywhere else, ploughs are still working hard to clear the way but travel between rural communities is still completely blocked.

On the brighter side, there were no reported severe injuries, and infrastructural damage was minimal. The northwest of the country, where the storm hit the hardest, power was knocked out in several communities, and winds were severe enough in the Westman Islands to knock over a truck, but apart from that we survived intact.

That said, conditions are still pretty severe in the northeast, the Icelandic Met Office shows, but conditions across the country should improve by tomorrow morning.

As such, schools and businesses should be open today, at least in the greater Reykjavík area. We advise monitoring both the IRCA page and the Met Office page linked in this article, and stay put until conditions are all clear—rolling the dice by hitting the road could put you or others in danger.