Thursday:
The weather in Iceland is predicted to change significantly and unusually suddenly today with a sharp drop in temperatures and frost in most parts of the country in the afternoon. According to long-term forecasts, Iceland might be in for a white Christmas.
Frost is forecast throughout this week and on Thursday and Friday a storm from the north is expected to hit the country, followed by snowfall in the north, [Morgunbladid] reports.

Friday:
A forceful storm and blizzard hit southeast Iceland last night with winds reaching up to 30 meters per second in Höfn. In the Sudursveit rural district power line poles snapped, causing a blackout in a large area.
The area will remain powerless for some time as the weather doesn’t permit repairs.
There is a risk of jet streams in many locations around the country, such as below Mt. Hafnarfjall near Borgarnes and on the southern Snaefellsnes peninsula in the west and below the Eyjafjöll mountain range in the south.
Disturbances to domestic flights are to be expected and people are asked not to travel between regions by car. Travel by sea is also not recommended, as the storm is raging offshore.
Very few ships are out; only some larger ones. Trawlers have sought shelter inside fjords in the east and a transport vessel en route to Neskaupstadur is waiting for the weather to clear southeast of Stokksnes peninsula, unable to sail in any direction.
Scattered sea ice is approaching the country northeast of Horn, the northernmost point of the Westfjords peninsula.

"Lost my hat today in the wind!! It blew right off my head and into the darkness. :-( If anyone sees one of these blowing around the west end of Reykjavík - it's mine!" - Miss Alda Kalda from 101 Reykjavík, on facebook today.

15 Grad Celsius und tagelang Sonne & Licht.

... findet sich hier vielleicht eine, welche im Winter nach Island reisen würde. Drei bis vier Stunden Tageslicht sowie meteorologische Verhältnisse, die von relativ angenehm bis extrem lebensfeindlich sämtliche Varianten ohne Rücksicht auf Besucher durchspielen, sind nicht jedermanns Sache - und schon gar nicht das, was man sich normalerweise unter Erholung in der karg bemessenen arbeitsfreien Zeit vorstellt.



Als ich vor kurzem das Eisenbahnticket zum Flughafen kaufte, fragte mich der jüngere Herr hinter dem SBB-Schalter im Anschluss an die Hinreise-Formalitäten: "Und wann kommen Sie zurück?" Bevor ich antworten konnte, ganz unvermittelt: "Kommen Sie überhaupt zurück!?" Auf meinen erstaunten Einwand, dass ich weder nach Sizilien noch nach Florida noch sonst nach einem von der breiten Allgemeinheit hoch geschätzten Ziel zu fliegen gedenke, meinte er: "Ich weiss, Sie fliegen nach Island; ich habe vorhin per Zufall in Ihren Unterlagen den Namen der Fluggesellschaft entdeckt - es liegt eine selten-seltsame Schönheit über Island im Winter. Daher meine vielleicht etwas ungewöhnliche Frage."

Der Kauf des Tickets zog sich anschliessend etwas in die Länge ...



Über den gegenwärtigen Zustand der Insel und v.a. ihrer Bewohner berichtete Ingrid Meissl Årebo in der NZZ Nr. 282 vom 03.12.2010: [Enorme Politikverdrossenheit auf Island.]

... immer wieder nach Island reist.



_{Roman Signer: Swimming Table, Iceland, 1994}

"Man ist fast etwas süchtig, wenn man Island gern hat. - Ja, das ist schon so."



Als kleine Nachspeise:
Aus dem Film "Signers Koffer": Roman Signer - [Sleeping in Iceland]

... we are not going [to hang out the laundry]

... with a 60-hour blizzard. An icy, northerly gale drove fine snow horizontally night and day, starting (appropriately) at Hallowe’en. Sometime during the first day (1 November) I walked the mile to the general store to get a few groceries. The automatic, sliding doors were closed and covered with snow and ice, but the side door was open. Trailing puddles of meltwater, I stocked up on bread, milk and other necessities, paid and ventured out again for the trek back to my lodgings. This time, the wind was full in my face so that snow gathered on my beard and my breath and snot froze in icicles from my moustache. The pavements were covered in snow and sometimes blocked by drifts, so I walked along the road instead. My main concern then was that I might get run over by a car, for I could not easily see where I was going and doubted that I was very visible to drivers. Nevertheless, I was soon back in the warmth of the guest house, feeling a tiny bit heroic but resolving not to go out again until the gale subsided.

Read on - a foreigner trying to live & survive in Iceland: [Uncle Wednesdays Iceland Blog]

... Delia macht auch schon Filme:

... in Reykjavik passt wohl auch "Der erste Isländer" (von Aldo Keel):

Kein anderes Land von ähnlicher Grösse und Lage blieb bis tief ins Mittelalter hinein menschenleer. Islands Geschichte beginnt mit Ingolfur Arnarson, der sich im Jahr 874 in der späteren Hauptstadt Reykjavik ansiedelte. Der aus Norwegen emigrierte Bauer eignete sich ein Gebiet an, in dem tausend Jahre später 420 Bauernhöfe ihr Auskommen fanden. Ingolfur fand ein bewaldetes Land vor, heute ist Island [weitgehend kahl.]

... the City of Oslo, Norway has presented Reykjavik City with a huge Christmas tree for the festive period. The tree is always placed in Austurvollur Square, in the heart of downtown Reykjavik, and is ceremoniously lit every year on 29th November with families gathering to sing Christmas carols and join-in the festivities.

The Christmas tree, which will be sent to Reykjavik this year, has already been chosen and will be removed from the Hauktjern region just outside of Oslo tomorrow. The 40-year-old spruce tree has already been displayed on the City of Oslo website and reaches 12 meters high.

Sigridur Duna Kristmundsdottir, the ambassador of Iceland in Norway, will attend the cutting down ceremony tomorrow along with other invited guests and the general public. A children’s choir will be singing at the event and there will be coffee and cakes.

Oslo has given Reykjavik a Christmas tree every year for the past 60 years. Oslo also gives other cities a tree every year, including London and Rotterdam.

Quelle: [icenews.is]