Icelandic search and recue teams have been busy all night, especially in the Suðurnes region in the southwest and in the capital region. In Suðurnes 20 search and rescue teams have responded to almost 150 calls for assistance since last night.
Search and rescue teams assist snowbound drivers in Reykjavík in December. Courtesy of ICE-SAR.
The Suðurnes teams got recruitment from the capital region where search and rescue teams have also been busy, responding to approximately 100 calls for assistance last night which started to arrive shortly after midnight, as stated in an ICE-SAR press release.
Streets in Hafnarfjörður, Garðabær and along the coastline are impassable, but to a lesser extent in upper Reykjavík suburbs, although some streets in Árbær are closed.
Highways leading south and eastwards out of the capital region are also closed: Reykjanesbraut (towards Keflavík International Airport), Hellisheiði (towards Hveragerði) and Þrengsli (towards Þorlákshöfn).
Search and rescue associations in Varmaland and Akranes in the west and Eyrarbakki and Þorlákshöfn in the south were also called last night, among other reasons to assist drivers stuck in snowdrifts, and in Ísafjörður in the West Fjords to assist with road closures and to prevent a boat from sinking in the local harbor.
Avalanche risk was declared in the West Fjords last night, in an industrial area in Ísafjörður and near two private homes in Hnífsdalur, Morgunblaðið reports.
Power outages were experienced in Bolungarvík in the West Fjords and in Kópasker and Þórshöfn in northeast Iceland as well as the surrounding rural area.
Roads are widely closed, as are schools. Commuters are asked to pay close attention to weather forecasts and warnings on vedur.is and road conditions on vegagerdin.is.
Click here to read about the last blizzard to hit the country.
ESA
