‘There is no reason to question these …’

The weather was short for Santa last Christmas Eve as parts of Iceland experienced record high temperatures. Air from the tropics spread across the country, helping temperatures rise to nearly 70 degrees on December 24.

Seyðisfjörður, on Iceland’s east coast, reached a record high of 19.8 degrees Celsius (about 67.6 Fahrenheit) the day before Christmas. reported Guard. This broke Iceland’s previous record, where the highest temperature reached 19.7 Celsius (about 67.5 Fahrenheit) as the crow flies, on December 2, 2019, at Öræfi, about 200 kilometers southwest of Seyðisfjörður.

“This is incredibly warm for winter,” meteorologist Einar Sveinbjörnsson said on Facebook. per RÚV is Iceland’s national public broadcasting service. “Another station at Seyðisfjörður, north of the head of the fjord at Vestdalur, recorded 19.4 C [about 66.9 F]. “There is no reason to question these measurements.”

A “foehn wind” contributed to unusual holiday temperature records in Iceland, RÚV details. “Fehn winds represent a special type of local wind associated with mountain systems.” explains National Weather Service in an online publication. “In most mountainous areas, local winds are observed blowing over mountain ranges and descending from the slopes on the lee side. If the wind flowing downwards is warm and dry, it is called a foehn wind.”

Although the foehn wind played a role in breaking a new record in Iceland on December 24, the warming climate in the high northern latitudes makes it easier to break the records.

Records also fell in Iceland last spring, as temperatures in some areas rose 3 to 4 degrees Celsius (roughly 5 to 7 Fahrenheit) above normal in May, according to The Guardian. The temperature peaked at 26.6 Celsius (about 79.9 Fahrenheit) at Egilsstaðir Airport in East Iceland on May 15.

Individual temperature records are not only evidence of historical trends, but also scientific consensus argues that human activities rising average temperatures worldwide — and we continue to do so. The effects of this warming include extreme weather events that can endanger lives and livelihoods.

only part Iceland is located north of the Arctic Circle, but our overheating planet is also having a huge impact on the Arctic, with effects spreading to other parts of the world. Scientists say the region is warming faster than the rest of the planet.

“In recent decades, warming in the Arctic has occurred much faster than in the rest of the world; a phenomenon known as Arctic expansion.” concluded A 2022 study on the warming observed in the Arctic since 1979.

The study’s authors added: “Multiple studies show that the Arctic is warming, on average, twice, more than twice, or even three times as fast as the Earth.” “[We] “Using various observational datasets covering the Arctic region, we show that the Arctic has warmed almost four times faster than the earth over the past 43 years, a higher rate than is generally reported in the literature.”

Accordingly The Arctic experienced the fifth warmest November on record, with temperatures more than 6 degrees Fahrenheit above average, according to the U.S. National Center for Environmental Information’s November global climate report. With temperatures just over 5 degrees Fahrenheit above average, January through November was the second hottest period on record for the region.

NOAA’s 2025 Arctic report card highlighted Our warming world affects the region in various ways; these include “permafrost melt affecting river chemistry, northward ocean heat transport reshaping Arctic marine ecosystems, and widespread warming leading to northern warming of Arctic waters and landscapes.”

“Transformations over the next two decades will reshape Arctic environments and ecosystems, impact the well-being of Arctic residents, and influence the course of the global climate system on which we all depend,” the report card’s authors warned.

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