Five landslides occurred due to the rainfall last weekend

At least five landslides occurred in Iceland this past weekend. One of them closed roads in Svínadalur in Skarðsströnd, Dalabyggð.

A yellow warning was in effect due to rainfall and wind in Faxaflói Bay and Breiðafjörður, but water growth and landslide hazards were also warned.

Forecasts were made, precipitation was high in West Iceland and there was widespread water growth, and flooding of roads and fields.

This is what the Icelandic Met Office says on its website.

A landslide closed a road

Scattered landslides were reported in Skarðsströnd, Barðaströnd, Snæfellsnes, and in Hítardalur valley.

The landslide in Svínadalur in Skarðsströnd closed the road, and in Barðaströnd there were probably four to five small landslides that did not reach the road, but water flowed over the road because of water growth.

One large landslide was below Klif, close to Snjódalur Valley from the top of the cliffs and other smaller landslides nearby.

Large-scale water growth and flooding

The weekend saw the largest total 24-hour precipitation recorded in July nationwide in Grundarfjörður, Snæfellsnes peninsula, and the largest precipitation recorded in one day. The total rainfall measured 227 millimetres in 24 hours.

The waters were abundant in Grundarfjörður and water flowed over the roads on both sides of the town, from the the rivers Ytri-Búðará River and Grundará River.

Water levels were also increasing in many parts of West Iceland. Among the rivers where water levels increased were Staðarhólsá River on Skarðsströnd, Vatnsdalsá River on Barðaströnd, and Haffjarðará River on Snæfellsnes.

In the Gufudalur Valley, the Gufudalsvatn lake water grew by 1.5 meters and water flowed over the fields.