Iceland Part 11 - Weather

And the pictures Icelandic tourist board does not want you to see:-)

The weather in Iceland is really bad. But this sometimes creates really dramatic light. Did you know that Iceland is the second windiest inhabited place in the world? First place belongs to Falkland Islands.

Weather is a big part of any holiday and I know we all wish for perfect weather when we set off to any destination. While Caribbean goes hand in hand with tropical heat and blue skies, Iceland is not Iceland without gale force winds and torrential down pour. Questions like: “Does it really rain a lot in Iceland” or “Is the weather really bad in Iceland” come up often in Google searches, which tells me, that my experience wasn’t special and many battle with the elements.

Now I'm not trying to put anyone off from visiting this country, (I have another stint in Iceland lined up - I have to do the Interior) but it’s always good to get the real picture, not just the sunny weather shots you get in brochures.

September and October are the wettest months in Iceland. And I can only confirm this.There can not be wetter and windier weather at any other time.

Before going to any country, I know people Google Flickr for shots and out of three options (recent, relevant and interesting) 99.99% click to see the interesting ones. Then, you get to Iceland, and are gutted when you don’t get the golden sunsets/sunrises, and blue skies with sheep like white clouds. That’s because this type of weather is as common as glamour model with a degree. This picture deserves to be at the top of every Iceland search. Before you go look at this set of images and try to get inspired. It's hardly skillful to get a great shot when you have a golden sunset.

Sun and rain have sometimes battles. In this instance, rain was the winner.

If you read up a lot about Iceland you will come across two weather related pow-wows:

1) Weather in Iceland changes every 5 minutes. Wrong. Weather does change very often, but even from good to bad (which is fastest weather change in Iceland) takes a little longer. However I have to point out that while Iceland has two high pressures weather fronts (good and very good) they have circa 17 different low pressure ones and they have a name for every one of them. In England there is just one word for it - crap. Hence not everything can be translated from Icelandic. And the weather doesn’t necessarily changes good-bad-good-bad either.

2) If the weather is bad in south west, it’s good in north east. This is partially true, and if you are there it's worth checking it out (on the internet at least here), but the full truth is if the weather in Iceland is bad, it’s bad everywhere. Also driving distance from Reykjavik to Vopnafjodur is around 490 miles (790 km) and you can’t do it in less than 10 hours. If nothing else, you will be missing attractions along the way. And Jokulsarlon looks amazing in whatever the weather.

Jokulsarlon in the rain and with rainbow. Not too bad, huh? (except I was getting wet)

The first two days I have had a weather that I would compare to arctic monsoon (artic because it was around 8C). At that point I just thought it was exceptional and that I haven’t managed to escape the curse I have been born with of things going terribly wrong for me. To be honest I did consider abandoning the whole trip and heading home. But as the holiday progressed I have realised that I’m not Gods’ chosen  21.century Noah, and I should leave the animals well alone, rather than try to hoard pairs into my car and save every animal species from what seemed like the new age flood of biblical proportions. The rain has rendered my 200 quid waterproof jacket useless, as either my jacket was not waterproof in the first place, or it is not waterproof in Icelandic conditions.

The good news is, if you love rainbows, you will love Iceland in its wettest. By day 3 I was sick of them, and stopped taking pictures. Not because they're not beautiful, but because rain comes with them. There is a reason why giant rainbow sculpture graces the Keflavik Airport.

I have climbed a hill to see how far I can see (as I’m a sucker for mountain views), but this ended up futile, as not only the weather has worsened to a point where I couldn’t see my feet. I have honestly struggled to get down, as the wind was so strong it was preventing me from going downhill. If it wasn’t for the torrential downpour, I would have a lot longer fun trying to get as diagonal and let the wind stopping me from falling flat on my face. In the UK you have to pay a fair bit of money for the use wind tunnels. Here this type of fun it’s free.

Sometimes storms come in very nice and dramatic packages like this. Unlike in US, in Iceland you don't have to go storm chasing. Here storm chases you.

Because I had the luxury of a car, I have come up with a game to see how many times I can get wet and dry in one day. Getting wet was not a problem (superfast), but the drying bit took longer. Once I was dry second time, I have decided to abandon that mission, as I didn’t fancy getting wet again. Then I thought of my second game, called “Spot the blue colour in the sky”.  Sometimes I swear it was just a mirage or wishful thinking that made me see a blue patch. But once, just waiting for a rain to pass so I can go and explore in better conditions, I suddenly spotted a blue colour patch through the front car window. The sky was clearing! I waited and waited, willing it to become bigger and bigger, and then finally taking over the sky. For some reason, the patch wasn’t getting bigger, it was not getting smaller either. It wasn’t even changing its shape, which I though was a bit odd. After what seemed like hours, but in real time terms was probably just 10 minutes, I got fed up and decided to plan my next adventure. Grabbed the map of Iceland and then it happened! The blue patch I could see through the front windscreen has suddenly disappeared. Turned out, the blue patch I was putting all my hopes into, was just a reflection of one of the glaciers on the map.

Skaftafell Natioanl Park, heavy clouds hold the sun back, but it does get through the hole where it rains. 'mazing phenomena

Admittedly sleeping in the car does get somewhat tricky, when you have rain drumming up against the roof. Try to think of it as you are in the rainforest.  I have heard the saying: “There is no such thing as bad weather, only wrong clothes” Well, whoever came up with it, has never been to Iceland J

Light at the end of the tunnel? Actually, no. This was the light I was leaving behind. The road went higher into the thick clouds, and I have witnessed the worst visibility ever recorded. In my diary that is. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't afford to make it worse by having water in my eyes. On this road I have picked up a hitch-hiker mentioned earlier.

When doing my second round of the Ring road, and surfing the information superhighway in Skaftafell National parks' information office (and hiding from torrential conditions that were happening outside) a woman asked one of the guys: "When will we have good weather?" The guy replied: "Next year." The woman laughed because she thought, he was joking. I laughed, because I knew he wasn't. So if you want to avoid bad weather avoid September and October to visit.

Despite the weather, I had really great time, and being thrill seeker, adventurous adrenalin dare devil, I certainly got to have the time of my life. The only thing I would change? I wish I didn’t worry and panic the first two days, thinking if I’m going to see the sun, for at least 5 minutes on my holiday. Everybody gets to see the sun for at least 5 minutes. Obviously in the summer when they have 20 hours of daylight is more probable time to see the sun, than in winter when they get 5 hours of daylight.