The weather and climate of Iceland

Abstract

Iceland is located in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean in the northern part of the storm track. The weather and climate of most parts of Iceland is characterized by strong winds, frequent precipitation, mild winters and cool summers. Mean temperatures are typically close to 0řC in the winter and not far from 10řC in the summer. At locations where orographic influence is not dominating, the mean annual precipitation is about thousand millimetres in the south of Iceland, but less in the north (Fig. 1). Although the amplitude of the seasonal cycle must be characterized as moderate, there can be large fluctuations in the weather from one day to another. A large span in the value of temperature extremes (Table 1) reflects these fluctuations. A comprehensive overview of the climate of Iceland is given in EINARSSON (1984).