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.
Residents in Hafnarfjörður, a small town just outside the capital area, have rescued multiple swans that have frozen to the icy surface of Hamarkotslækur creek during a recent spate of desperately cold weather in the country, RÚV reports.
Icelandic glaciers have been losing mass since the Little Ice Age, but that process has slowed over the last decade thanks to the influence of what scientists have dubbed the Blue Blob, “an area of regional cooling in the North Atlantic Ocean to the south of Greenland.
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.
December heat records were broken or equalled by at least 53 remote weather-monitoring stations and three manned stations in the first days of the month. The cause was a mass of warm air that moved across the country.
There has never been more use of hot water in the capital area in November than this year. The temperature that month was measured as quite cold according to the Icelandic Met Office, explaining the need for more hot water.
The extended heat wave will continue through the week, according to the National Weather Service.
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