Latest news - Iceland Monitor

A great number of people lost their jobs at WOW air today.

WOW air lay off 350 staff

14:22 GMT WOW air have laid off altogether 350 staff today. These are 111 full time staff and the rest are summer staff and contractors.

1500 new hotel rooms for Reykjavik in next two years

09:59 GMT Around 1500 hotel rooms will be put into use in the space of the next two years. This is the same as 15 average sized city hotels. With each hotel room costing an average of 35 million ISK this investment is around 53 billion ISK.

Thunder and lightning strike Reykjavik last night

yesterday Last night, lightning struck in Reykjavik accompanied by thunder. This is highly unusual in Iceland and especially in the month of December. The thunder and lightning were a sort of grand finale to yesterday's storm which has now subsided.

Children decorating piparkökur, or ginger biscuits.

Five Christmas foods to try in Iceland

11 Dec Here are some of the traditional foods you might encounter in Iceland during the holiday season.

Actress Jodie Foster will be taking on the role of Halla, an unlikely eco-avenger.

Jodie Foster to direct and star in Iceland's Oscar entry film

11 Dec Jodie Foster will direct, produce and star in the US remake of award winning Icelandic film Woman at War. Foster will play the role of Halla, played in the Icelandic version by Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir.

All Air Iceland Connect flights are down.

Disturbances to domestic and international flights due to weather

11 Dec All domestic flights have been down this morning due to the storm and delays have been on international flights at Keflavik International Airport. All flights to and frm Ísafjörður have been cancelled. Flights to Egilsstaðir and Akureyri may recommence this afternoon.

Storm rages in Reykjavik in the early hours

11 Dec A storm came back in Reykjavik in the early hours this morning. Drivers are asked to be careful as gusts of wind are strong and rain is heavy.

The weather will start to worsen at around 4 pm.

Reykjavik: Parents asked to pick up younger children from school due to storm

10 Dec The Reykjavik fire department and the Reykjavik Metropolitan Police are asking parents and guardians of younger children to pick them up after 4 pm today from school or after school activities instead of letting them walk by themselves due to the weather.

Síðdegis er spáð suðaustanhvassviðri eða -stormi.

Storm in Reykjavik expected at 5 pm

10 Dec Iceland Met Office has issued a yellow storm warning for the capital area today beginning at 5 pm and going onwards into the evening. People are urged to take great care and to secure loose objects outside.

Storm in South and West Iceland this afternoon

10 Dec This afternoon and evening a storm will hit South and West Iceland. A yellow weather warning has been issued for the capital area, Faxaflói, Breiðafjörður and the central highlands.

The firsts guests at Guðlaug pool enjoying the warm waters.

New geothermal pool opened at Langisandur beach in Akranes

8 Dec A new manmade hot geothermal pool was opened at Langisandur beach by the town of Akranes in West Iceland today. The pool is called Guðlaug, which is both a woman's name or can mean "the pool of god."

Former Minister for Foreign affairs and MP for the Centre Party Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson was one of the six involved in the scandalous bar conversation.

Person who made Klaustur bar recording goes public

7 Dec Newspaper Stundin revealed today the identity of the person who made the recording at Klaustur bar of six MP's that has caused a scandal within Icelandic society. She's a disabled gay woman called Bára Halldórsdóttir who says she began recording when the MP's began to make loud crude comments about minority groups and women.

Man charged with holding his three-year-old son over a balcony railing

6 Dec The district attorney in Reykjavik has placed charges against a man for having in an "unscrupulous and serious manner" having placed his son in immense danger to his life by swinging him backwards and forwards over a balcony railing and threatening to drop him.

Storm warning for today - road closures in South East Iceland

6 Dec A yellow weather warning has been issued by the Iceland Met Office for many parts of Iceland today and there will be disruption to communications in some areas. The route no.1 beneath the Eyjafjöll mountains has been closed due to the storm.

Awful misogynistic remarks were made about Minister Alfreðsdóttir in the Klaustur bar conversation that was leaked.

Minister of Culture calls MP's in bar recording scandal "Perpetrators of violence"

5 Dec Iceland's Minister of Culture Lilja Alfreðsdóttir appeared on the Kastljós news programme tonight, speaking for the first time about her reaction to the comments made about her in bar conversation two weeks ago, recorded by a witness.