Record December Temperature Measured In East Iceland

A record-setting temperature was measured in East Iceland on Christmas Eve. Temperatures in Seyðisfjörður reached 19.8 degrees Celsius at 23:00 — the highest ever. At Bakkagerði in Borgarfjörður Eystri, tempereatures rose to 19.7 degrees Celsius.

The readings beat the 2019 record, when the temperature reached 19.7 degrees at Kvísker in Öræfi.

As reported by RÚV, Met Office’s weather forecaster Birgir Örn Höskuldsson claimed that high winds and warm air created the conditions for the temperature. This phenomenon is named hnúkaþeyr — Foehn winds — and is characterised by dry, downslope wind moving down mountains.