News Search: Go

Ína Björk, daughter of Benediktsdóttir, her sons-in-laws Gulli and Anton, as well as Elínborg herself by the snowman who has been named Einjólfur Snjóálfur Einisson after the street elf in Einihlíð.

The tallests snowman in Hafnarfjörður

28 Dec 2023 The enthusiasm of active family members in Einihlíð in Hafnarfjörður led to the creation of the nearly three-meter tall snowman they decided to call Einjólfur Snjóálfur Einisson.

It could be down to minus 26 degrees on New Year's Day according to the forecast of the Icelandic Met Office.

Icy cold weather in the charts

27 Dec 2023 “It will snow somewhere in the country most days, but the most snowfall is at least over for now here in the south and west,” says Óli Þór Árnason, meteorologist at the Icelandic Met Office, about the weather outlook for the next few days.

Árbæjarlaug swimming pool is closed over the holidays which the regular are not too happy about.

Tradition to go swimming on Christmas

24 Dec 2023 “It’s extremely popular with families to come here on Christmas Eve and has become a tradition for many, especially for people with younger children. We also have a lot of regular guests who come here at 6:30 on weekdays, senior citizens and people who are hanging out. So it’s a great social center,” says Sigríður B. Guðmundsdóttir, swimming pool manager at Suðurbæjarlaug swimming pool in Hafnarfjörður.

„Happy jólabókaflóð" is what the American booklovers say.

What is the deal with this "jólabókaflóð"?

23 Dec 2023 “This romantic idea of us cuddling with cocoa in wooden huts in a land of fire and ice appeals to many people,” says Heiðar Ingi Svansson, chairman of the Icelandic Publishers Association, who has been increasingly interested in the Icelandic Christmas "Jólabókaflóð" in recent years by booklovers all over the world.

The mayor of Grindavík asks the residents to be careful in his Christmas greeting.

The Mayor addresses the residents of Grindavík and sends a holiday greeting

23 Dec 2023 Fannar Jónasson, mayor of Grindavík, will address the town tonight and send out a Christmas greeting. He says he admires the resilience he has witnessed with the town’s people in recent weeks.

It is not yet known where exactly the eruption is and how far it is from Grindavík.

Emergency phase declared

18 Dec 2023 The National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, in agreement with the Commissioner of the Police in Suðurnes, has decided to enter the emergency phase of the Civil Protection Agency due to the volcanic eruption in the Reykjanes peninsula. The Civil Protection Coordination Centre has been activated.

The Blue Lagoon has been closed since November 9 but was opened today.

The Blue Lagoon has opened again

17 Dec 2023 The Blue Lagoon has reopened after a month of closure due to the earthquakes on the Reykjanes peninsula.

The main proceedings in the so called Ólafsfjörður case starts today before the District Court of Northeast Iceland in Akureyri. Eyþór Þorbergsson assistant procecutor is in charge of the case for the District Court.

Key witness in the case has died

11 Dec 2023 The main proceedings in the Ólafsfjörður case will begin before the District Court of Northeast Iceland in Akureyri today. Steinþór Einarsson is charged with killing Tómas Waagfjörð on Monday night, October 3rd, 2022.

Icelanders teaching Brits to drive in snow

8 Dec 2023 Heavy snow has fallen across the UK and the local weather service has warned drivers of difficult road conditions.

Land continues to rise at Svartsengi and it has been rising approximately 1 cm each day in the last few days.

The dike might have expanded

3 Dec 2023 The devastating earthquakes that occurred on Friday, November 10, may also have expanded the magma's dike from a deeper chamber to a shallower one. As a result, more magma flows higher into the earth's crust now than before.

The actor Richard Armitage was in Iceland recently and talked to mbl.is about his career and his new thriller.

An actor writes a thriller

2 Dec 2023 The great actor, and now author, Richard Armitage, welcomes the journalist with a broad smile and a big hug. Armitage is probably best known for his role as Thorin Oakenshield in the trilogy Hobbit, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s books. Many people also know him from the British spy-show Spooks, the movie Ocean’s Eight, or the recently launched love-scandal show Obsession. But now the actor has tried his hand in the literary field, as the exciting thriller Geneva has been published. That is why the British actor was invited to Iceland for the bookfestival Iceland Noir, which took place in Reykjavík recently.

Land is rising at a slower speed in Svartsengi and it is not certain when or whether it will reach the same height as it did on November 10.

90% of the magma dike solidified

26 Nov 2023 The majority of the dike at Svartsengi has hardened. The likelihood of a volcanic eruption is decreasing and the land rising at Svartsengi has slowed down. Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson, professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland, says this to mbl.is.

Birna Sverrisdóttir was in Grindavík today and says she is returning to her home when the danger has passed.

"It is difficult to think straight"

23 Nov 2023 Birna Sverrisdóttir was busy trying to get her granddaughter’s vehicle out of the danger zone in Grindavík when mbl.is’ journalist and photographer visited the town today. She was returning home for the second time since the town was evacuated on Friday night, November 10. She intends to return to Grindavík when the danger is over.

A new danger zone map was issued yesterday for the Reykjanes peninsula.

Work came to a halt due to bad weather

21 Nov 2023 “Work on the defense walls was basically stopped last night. It’s a bit affected by the weather, but the Met Office issued a statement that it couldn’t monitor the area safely with air quality meters, so we took the decision to stop last night and we’re going to stop today as well. We’ll then re-evaluate the situation later today, before the night shift starts. So this is the situation at the moment.”