Weather alert: No travel weather in the Westfjords and the North
Wind forecast at 1 pm today. Map/The Icelandic Met Office
There will be no travel weather in the Westfjords and the North after noon today, but bad weather is forecast due to strong winds and stormy weather in the Westfjords. Due to the weather, Orange and yellow warnings are in effect across the country today.
Katrín Agla Tómasdóttir, a meteorologist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, tells mbl.is that the forecast is correct. A strong wind or a storm has arrived from the south in the west, and then the wind will turn to the southwest around noon, and then you can expect a storm or wind in the Westfjords and in the north.
"The weather is getting colder with the south-westerly wind direction. Stormy weather is forecast in the Westfjords and there is no prospect of travel weather in the Westfjords and the North today. We urge people to be careful and encourage everyone to get rid of loose items outside," Tómasdóttir says.
Strong winds and storms are coming from the south with yellow and orange weather warning as can be seen on this map. Kort/Veðurstofa Íslands
She says the weather won't improve until late tonight or even around midnight, but the orange warnings are due to expire in the Westfjords late tonight and in the North at midnight. She says that tomorrow there will be good weather all over the country.
Risk of mudslides and rock falls
Tómasdóttir points out that there is a risk of mudslides and rock falls on steep slopes.
"It has been raining for the last few days in the South and West and on the southern side of the Westfjords, so the soil has become saturated with water. The soil is therefore unstable and there could be some movement on it."
On the Icelandic Road Agency, IRCA's website, umferdin.is , it is stated that possible closures can be expected in the Vestfjörður in the middle of the day. There is a level of uncertainty on Steingrímsfjarðarheiði, in Ísafjarðardjúp, on Súðavíkurhlíð, and on Gemlufallsheiði due to a south-westerly storm in the afternoon and could therefore come to an end at short notice. It also says that it is impassable between Stykkishólmur and Grundarfjörður due to strong gusts of wind.
