Winter arrived in force in Reykjavík, bringing heavy snowfall and drifting. All available winter maintenance services staff are working to clear the city's streets. Main roads and connecting streets should all be passable by now, but many residential streets and collecting roads remain impassable in Grafarvogur, Grafarholt, and Úlfarsárdalur. Breiðholt fared better this time.
Forecasters predict northeast winds of 5-13 meters per second over the next 24 hours, with gusts of 10-18 m/s and intermittent clouds tomorrow morning. Temperatures will drop to between 1 and 8 degrees below freezing. Crews will remain on standby over the coming days.
Strong response on Friday
Winter maintenance services mobilized Friday evening, and by early Saturday morning crews deployed all available equipment on both streets and paths to keep the city moving, prioritizing main roads and bus routes.
Operations went reasonably well, except in higher-elevation neighborhoods where conditions grew extremely difficult late in the evening. Drifting snow caused further delays, particularly in Grafarvogur, Grafarholt, and Úlfarsárdalur.
Problems arose on Víkurvegur late yesterday evening, which crews resolved by deploying additional equipment in coordination with the police. Similar issues occurred on Skyggnisbraut in Úlfarsárdalur this morning (Dec. 18, 2022), but those streets should now be passable.
Residential streets are next
The forecast calls for strong northeast winds this evening. This means drifting snow is possible in the westernmost parts of Vesturbær, with conditions potentially deteriorating tonight. We will take action to address the situation.
Winter maintenance services will clear residential streets as soon as they finish clearing the main road network. Crews are working to finish as quickly as possible, especially given the severe frost forecast for the coming days.
This work will take several days, as crews must clear roughly 1,200 km of streets and around 800 km of paths, of which they prioritize approximately 500 km. To put that in perspective, Iceland's Ring Road is approximately 1,200 km long.
See earlier updates from the weekend
Do not drive vehicles without proper winter equipment
