Unseasonably warm October air is bringing temperatures up to 18°C in northeastern Iceland today, following peaks over 21°C in East Iceland yesterday, driven by a foehn effect. South to southwesterly winds and intermittent rain accompany the warmth, with the east and northeast remaining mostly bright.

The vessel Beitir NK landed 700 tons of herring in Neskaupstaður, as skippers report many whales—especially orcas—converging on herring grounds and following the net to the ship. Recent catches suggest the herring has shifted north toward Bakkaflói.

Iceland’s Ring Road east of Höfn was cut after a flood damaged a roughly 50‑meter section near the Jökulsá í Lóni river. Heavy rain has caused widespread high water; repairs will begin when flows subside, but the timeline is unclear.

Heavy rain in East Iceland has eased, but the Icelandic Meteorological Office warns that landslide risk remains in the Eastfjords following several minor slides yesterday. Travelers are urged to use caution near steep slopes and stream channels.

A temperature of 29.8 °C was recorded at Egilsstaðir Airport on August 16, 2025, marking the highest August temperature measured in Iceland this century.

Lake Mývatn experienced its largest midge swarm in decades, with calm, warm conditions triggering an unusually early emergence that blanketed the lake’s surface.

When the Smyril Line ferry Norrøna arrived at Seyðisfjørður harbor in Iceland on June 19, crew and port officials discovered a large whale lodged across its bow, likely having been dead or mortally injured before impact.

A six‑meter whale, likely a northern bottlenose whale, washed ashore in Njarðvík at Borgarfjörður Eystri on Good Friday. Locals notified Icelandic environmental authorities, but the carcass may remain on the beach over Easter.

Several avalanches have fallen in Eskifjörður in the last few days, and the Met Office assesses a considerable risk of avalanches in the mountains of the Eastfjords, the Trölli Peninsula, and Eyjafjörður.

Residents of Borgarfjörður Eystri have had to boil their drinking water for two weeks due to coliform bacteria in their water sources. “This has probably come about because of soil subsidence [sinking ground] in the wet land in that area,” stated Glúmur Björnsson, a geologist at utilities contractor HEF Veitur.

A resident of Eskifjörður, East Iceland was shocked to see thousands of cigarette stubs washed up on the shore of the fjord yesterday.

Börkur NK docked in Seyðisfjörður this weekend with a hold full of capelin. The fish took 18 hours to land and came in at 3,400 tonnes—which is likely the most capelin ever landed from a single tour in Iceland, according to a statement from Síldarvinnslan.

The Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) has found evidence of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) in an open-net salmon farm in Reyðarfjörður fjord, East Iceland. ISA is a highly infectious viral disease that has no treatment and causes high mortality in farmed Atlantic salmon.

Despite extensive and expensive work last summer to prevent further oil leaks from the Second World War shipwreck El Grillo, in Seyðisfjörður, oil is still leaking into the sea. It is thought the wreck still contains some 10-15 tonnes of oil.

There was heavy rainfall yesterday across the region. Rain combined with thawing snow and above-freezing temperatures are conditions that increase the likelihood of landslides. The evacuation from six streets was called “precautionary” as authorities are still evaluating whether the slope was destabilized following December landslides.

Very heavy rain has affected South and East Iceland throughout Sunday and overnight. An area of Seyðisfjörður has been evacuated and road closures were announced in three places due to an avalanche, an ice flood, and a downed power line.

A large feed boat belonging to fish farming company Laxar sunk in Reyðarfjörður, East Iceland last weekend. Vísir reports that divers were sent out to the ship yesterday to assess the risk of oil leakage from the vessel, which contains around 10,000 litres of diesel oil in addition to 300 tons of feed.

After a week of extreme rainfall, devastating landslides have hit the town of Seyðisfjörður in east Iceland. Another large mudslide hit several buildings in town around three pm, sweeping at least one building away.

It’s the first time that the virus has been detected in salmon in Iceland, though it was found in halibut in 1999. The virus poses no health risks to people.

62 pilot whales swam onto the shore at Ytra Lón on the Langanes peninsula, northeast Iceland, on Friday evening. All died.