![Iceland Köppen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Iceland_K%C3%B6ppen.svg)
The climate of Iceland is
subpolar oceanic
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Cfc'') near the southern coastal area and
tundra
In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...
(Köppen ''ET'') inland in the highlands. The island lies in the path of the
North Atlantic Current, which makes its climate more
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
than would be expected for its
latitude
In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...
just south of the
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...
. This effect is aided by the
Irminger Current
The Irminger Current is a north Atlantic ocean current setting westward off the southwest coast of Iceland. It is composed of relatively warm and saline waters from the eastern North Atlantic that are fed by the North Atlantic Drift. The Irminger C ...
, which also helps to moderate the island's temperature. The weather in
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
is notoriously variable.
The
aurora borealis is often visible at night during the winter. The
midnight sun
The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, t ...
can be experienced in summer on the island of
Grímsey off the north coast; the remainder of the country, since it lies just south of the
polar circle, experiences a twilight period during which the sun sets briefly, but still has around two weeks of continuous daylight during the summer.
Seasons
Winter
The Icelandic winter is relatively mild for its latitude, owing to maritime influence and proximity to the warm currents of the
North Atlantic Gyre
The North Atlantic Gyre of the Atlantic Ocean is one of five great oceanic gyres. It is a circular ocean current, with offshoot eddies and sub-gyres, across the North Atlantic from the Intertropical Convergence Zone (calms or doldrums) to the part ...
. The southerly lowlands of the island average around in winter, while the north averages around . The lowest temperatures in the northern part of the island range from around . The lowest temperature on record is .
Summer
The average July temperature in the southern part of the island is . Warm summer days can reach .
The highest temperature recorded was in the
Eastern fjords in 1939. Annual average sunshine hours in
Reykjavík are around 1300, which is similar to towns in Scotland and Ireland.
Winds and storms
Iceland, especially inland and during winter, is frequently subject to abrupt and dramatic changes in weather that can sharply reduce visibility, as well as rapidly increasing
wind speed and
precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
, and shift temperature.
Generally, wind speeds tend to be higher in the
highlands, but
topographical features can aggravate winds and cause strong gusts in lowland areas. Wind speed in the lowlands reaches on 10–20 days per year, but on upwards of 50 days per year in places in the highlands.
[ The strongest measured 10-minute sustained wind speed is and the strongest gust . Heavy ]dust storm
A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transporte ...
s can be generated by strong glacial winds, and can be very strong. Up to of material can be in motion per transect per hour. These storms are very frequent in the early summer in the arid highland areas north of the Vatnajökull glacier.
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
s are extremely rare for any specific location in Iceland, with fewer than five storms per year in the southern part of the island. They are most common in early or late summer. They can be caused by warm air masses coming up from Europe, or deep lows from the southwest in wintertime. Lightning
Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...
can usually be observed in connection with ash plumes erupting from the island's volcanoes. Vortices
In fluid dynamics, a vortex ( : vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in th ...
, sometimes on the scale of tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
es, also occur with volcanic eruptions. Landspouts and waterspout
A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel cloud, funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water. Some are connected to a cumulus congestus cloud, some to a cumuliform cloud and some to a cumulonimbus clou ...
s are occasionally observed. Classic mesocyclone derived tornadoes (i.e. forming from supercells) are very rare, but have been observed. Any of these do occasionally cause damage, although the sparse population further reduces the probability of detection and the hazard.
Atmospheric pressure
There is a persistent area of low pressure near Iceland known as the Icelandic Low
The Icelandic Low is a semi-permanent centre of low atmospheric pressure found between Iceland and southern Greenland and extending in the Northern Hemisphere winter into the Barents Sea. In the summer, it weakens and splits into two centres, one ...
, found between Iceland and Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
. This area affects the amount of air brought into the Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
to the east, and the amount coming out of the Arctic to the west. It is part of a greater pressure system known as the North Atlantic Oscillation
The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a weather phenomenon over the North Atlantic Ocean of fluctuations in the difference of atmospheric pressure at sea level (SLP) between the Icelandic Low and the Azores High. Through fluctuations in the ...
(NAO).
Climatic data
Climate Change
750 square kilometers of Iceland’s glacier ice has melted since the year 2000. Iceland’s annual CO2 emissions and per capita CO2 emissions rose from 1950 to 2018, but both metrics have been on the decline since 2018. A majority of Iceland’s CO2 emissions come from oil.
Most Icelandic glaciers began retreating in the late 1800s, but current modeling studies suggest that glaciers would lose a quarter of their volume in the next hundred years with just a 1°C rise in global temperatures. The models also predict that glaciers could lose sixty percent of their volume if global temperatures rise by 2°C. At this rate, only small ice caps will remain after two hundred years. Some models predict Iceland's glacial mass will shrink a third by 2100.
Iceland’s retreating glaciers have global and local consequences. Melting of Iceland’s glaciers could raise sea levels by a centimeter, which could lead to erosion and flooding worldwide. Locally, glacial recession could cause crustal uplift, which could disrupt buildings. Some places in Iceland have already seen the crust rise at a rate of 40 millimeters per year.
Okjökull
Okjokull is a glacier in Iceland that melted in 2014. Okjokull is Iceland's first glacier to have melted due to climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
.
Name Change
Geologists estimate that Okjokull covered about 6 square miles in the late 1800s, but slowly shrunk until it officially lost its glacier status in 2014. When it "died", the 800 year old glacier's name was changed from Okjokull to Ok. Okjokull was pronounced dead in part due to its decrease in area, but also due to its inability to flow; a body of ice must be able to move to be defined as a glacier. “Jokull” means glacier in Icelandic, so this suffix was removed accordingly.
Funeral
In 2018, a documentary called ''Not Ok'' was released by Rice University anthropologists four years after its death. In 2019, roughly one hundred people held a funeral for Okjokull. Iceland’s prime minister at the time, Katrin Jakobsdottir, was among the attendees.
At the funeral, one high school student read a poem and a commemorative plaque, titled "A letter to the future," was placed on a boulder. As of 2022, this plaque was the only one commemorating a glacier lost to climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
. The plaque warned future readers that all of Iceland's glaciers would soon "follow the same path" as Okjokull.
Sustainability
In an effort to combat the effects climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
has on Iceland’s glaciers, Iceland has worked to make its electricity completely sustainable. As of 2015, nearly all of its electricity comes from renewable energy. Thirteen percent of the country’s electricity comes from geothermal energy—which also heats ninety percent of Iceland’s homes— and the rest comes from hydropower.
See also
*Climate of the Nordic countries
The climate of the Nordic countries is that of a region in Northern Europe that consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, which include the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland. Stockholm, Sweden ...
* Geography of Iceland
References
External links
The dynamic climate of Iceland
– A brief description of the country's climate (with maps)
– Weather forecast for Reykjavík
{{Europe topic, Climate of
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...