Heavy rainfall impacts western regions of Iceland, causing flooding in Grundarfjörður

July in Iceland experienced some of the heaviest rainfall recorded for that month, particularly in the western regions. The Icelandic Meteorological Office reported that the weather was largely overcast and wet, especially in the West and South, with sunlight hours in Reykjavik being over seventy hours below the average.

Temperatures in Reykjavik averaged 11°C, which is 0.7°C below the norm for the period from 1991 to 2020, and 0.6°C below the average of the last decade. Meanwhile, Akureyri recorded an average temperature of 12.7°C, exceeding the historical average by 1.5°C. Stykkishólmur also saw an average of 11°C, while Höfn in Hornafjörður recorded 10.6°C.

The capital endured significant cloud cover throughout July, experiencing only 110.9 hours of sunshine, which is approximately 72.3 hours below the average. In contrast, Akureyri had 175 sunshine hours, 22.5 hours above its average during the same period.

Nationally, wind speeds were 0.6 m/s above the historical average, with particularly strong gusts noted from July 11 to 13, as well as on the 22nd and 31st. The unusual low atmospheric pressure contributed to overall unfavorable weather conditions, resulting in extraordinary precipitation levels in the southwest and west of the country. Heavy rains led to flooding in areas like Grundarfjörður, marking July as a notably challenging month for weather in Iceland.