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The weather in 2022 was variable, but the annual mean of temperature, wind and pressure were mostly around average. In the country as a whole the temperature was equal to the 1991 to 2020 mean, but 0.3°C below the mean of the last ten years. It was relatively warmest around the South coast. The total annual precipitation was slightly above or slightly below average at most stations. But it was unusually wet in Reykjavík and at some locations in the Northeast. Average pressure and wind speed were around the long-term mean. Read more

Recent satellite images show that the ice covering Askja lake has been retreating significantly in the past week. Thisis quite unusual so early in the year, normally it occurs in the summer time between June and July. A similar event was recorded in 2012 when the ice in Askja lake started to melt in March. The reason why the ice covering the Askja lake has retreated so much in the past days is still uncertain and no direct measurements are currently available to fully understand the causes. However,  few causes have been considered.

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Retreating ice caps have a large influence on the crust of the Earth and cause ground uplift – a rebound effect resulting from unloading of the glaciers due to ice loss. Dr. Michelle Maree Parks, a specialist in volcano deformation studies at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, together with Freysteinn Sigmundsson, a geophysicist at the Nordic Volcanological Center at the Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, lead a project that received a grant-of-excellent from the Icelandic Research Fund that addresses these questions. They will together form a large international team of scientists to carry out research on glacial isostatic adjustment due to present day glacier change and its effect on the Earth‘s crust, in particular at four volcanic systems and two seismic zones in Iceland.

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Updated 13.10.

The glacial flood from Grímsvötn is still ongoing and maximum discharge of about 500 m³/s from Grímsvötn sub-glacial lake is expected to be reached later today or tonight. The ice-shelf on top of the sub-glacial lake has now subsided approximately 12 m since 5th of October. Since yesterday morning signals of floodwater have been detected in Gígjukvísl river by water level measurements and on images from a web camera

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The precursors to the eruption at Fagradalsfjall last year were unusual compared to many other eruptions across the world and the composition of the lava changed as the eruption continued. These are among the findings of two papers published in the latest issue of Nature by scientists at the University of Iceland and the Icelandic Meteorological Office along with a large number of colleagues.

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