Reykjavik In June Has Not Had As Little Sun In 100 Years

Last June in Reykjavík was so cloudy that you would need to go back a century to find a gloomier one.

RÚV reports that for the entire month of June, the sun has appeared for a grand total of 70.6 hours; less then 10% of the 720 total hours in the month. Consequently, the average temperature was 1.6° below the monthly average, barely reaching 13°.

Meteorologist Elín Björk Jónasdóttir says there has not been a gloomier June in 100 years, and that there is no one explanation for this.

“There has been, for example, an unusual situation in the upper atmosphere, and this jet stream which is so important to us is in the wrong place compared to what we’re used to,” she told reporters. “Which pours low pressure systems over us… There’s also a very cold sea now south and southwest of Iceland.”

Making matters worse is the fact that it has already been predicted that summer in Reykjavík is cancelled, so cloudy skies will likely continue for the time being.

In the northeast, however, the sun has been much more visible, so if you want to experience something resembling summer in Iceland, head on out east.