Iceland’s weather is the fact that rearranges every other plan on this site. Visit Iceland’s weather article repeats a local saying: if you do not like the weather, wait five minutes. The article’s point is not the proverb. It is that storms, extreme wind, rain, and snow are frequent, and that a schedule has to bend.
Milder than the latitude, still sudden
The same article says the climate is milder than the name and the latitude suggest, because a branch of the Gulf current brings warmer seas to the south and west coasts. That milder Atlantic air meets Arctic air, which is why the weather changes and why it is stormy. The north, it says, tends toward colder and longer winters and warmer summers than the south. Southerly winds are the prevailing ones, so rain is more common in the south than in the north. Regions really do differ on the same day. A forecast for Reykjavík is not a forecast for the Eastfjords.
Visit Iceland points readers to the Icelandic Meteorological Office at en.vedur.is for the official forecast, and to SafeTravel for weather and road conditions together. Its driving article says a daily check of vedur.is, or the shorter address wet.is, should be part of the routine, with extra care in strong wind if the vehicle is tall, and extra care about snow and storm warnings in winter.
Snow, without a single number for “how much”
Visit Iceland says there is no simple answer to how much snow Iceland gets. Highlands above about 200 to 400 meters are usually snow-covered from September until May or longer, which is why highland roads are impassable in winter. Lowlands often swing above and below freezing, so snow may last days or weeks rather than all season, often as a cover of a few centimeters and at most up to about a meter, especially in Reykjavík and the south, with ice when the temperature crosses freezing. The north and the Westfjords, the article says, are known for heavy snow, up to several meters. Those are the article’s ranges. They are not a promise for a given week.
Daylight
Because of the latitude, summer days are very long and winter days are very short. Visit Iceland’s summer article says Icelanders mark the first day of summer in mid to late April, but that for travelers the summer season is June through August. It gives month-by-month notes: June often the most stable, with the lowest average rainfall and temperatures around 7–14°C (45–57°F); July the warmest on average, about 8–15°C (46–59°F), occasionally above 20°C (68°F) in shelter in the north and east; August similar, with a bit more rain late in the month and daytime highs around 13°C (55°F). It also says the south coast is generally wetter and windier, and the north and Eastfjords often calmer and slightly warmer.
On daylight, that article says Reykjavík gets around 20–21 hours in June, Akureyri nearly 23.5, and Grímsey true midnight sun; July about 18–20 hours; August falling from about 18 hours to about 14.5 by month’s end, dark enough late in the month that the northern lights can return. The packing article’s summer note is a bit different in wording: an average around 11°C, with days up to 20°C, for May through August. Both pages are Visit Iceland. They are summarized here as published, not merged into one “normal” temperature.
Northern lights
Visit Iceland says the aurora is a winter darkness phenomenon, visible in Iceland between September and April when the sky is dark and clear and solar activity cooperates. It says the lights can appear over the whole country, including Reykjavík on a clear active night, and that sightings are usually better away from city light. There is no guarantee. The Met Office site and the aurora forecast are the checks it names. Equinox periods in September and March are described as often more active, and midwinter simply offers more hours of darkness. Summer midnight sun and winter aurora are the same latitude doing opposite jobs. You do not plan both for the same week.
A winter self-drive is a different risk from a summer one. The driving article recommends a four-wheel-drive in winter because conditions are harder, and it says the Ring Road can close locally in bad weather even though it is paved and kept open through the year. That is the driving page.
Sources
- Visit Iceland, Weather and climate
- Visit Iceland, Visiting Iceland in the summer
- Visit Iceland, What to wear
- Visit Iceland, The Northern lights
- Visit Iceland, Driving in Iceland
- Icelandic Meteorological Office, English forecast