Living in Iceland · Everyday systems

Weather warnings and roads: what they mean for your day

Visitors check the weather for the view. People who live here check it to know whether they can get to work, whether the children's school day changes, and whether the road home over the heath will still be open this evening. This page explains the warning colours, shows where the official information lives, and gives you a calm way to decide. It does not replace the forecast — it shows you how to read it.

Guided by a resident. Written by someone who has lived through Iceland’s systems, with help from people who pointed the way, and checked against official sources.

Last verified 30 September 2026 · Veðurstofa Íslands (en.vedur.is), Vegagerðin (umferdin.is, vegagerdin.is)

Where the official information actually is

Weather and warnings: en.vedur.is — the Icelandic Met Office (Veðurstofa Íslands, say: VETH-ur-stoh-va EES-lands). Warnings appear at the top of the page and on the map, by area.
Roads and closures: umferdin.is — the Icelandic Road Administration (Vegagerðin, say: VEH-ga-yer-thin). The site is in Icelandic, English and Polish.
Road information by phone: 1777, open every day from 06:30 to 22:00 all year. You can ask in plain words whether a road is passable.
Emergencies: 112. Only when someone is in danger, not to ask about the road.

Met Office alerts · Road conditions map · About the 1777 line

Save both pages to your phone screen now, while the weather is fine. On a bad morning you want them one tap away, not a search away.

What do the warning colours mean?

The Met Office issues warnings by colour, based on how likely the weather is and how much it is expected to affect people, not only on wind speed or rainfall. Warnings are issued for each forecast area, with a start and end time.

Green — no particular hazard expected.
Yellow — weather that can be hazardous in places if you do not take care, and can affect travel between areas. Yellow warnings are fairly common and are not expected to disrupt transport, public services or infrastructure across the board.
Orange — weather likely to affect transport, public services and infrastructure for a time. It can cause damage or accidents and can be a threat to life if precautions are not taken. These happen every year. Make arrangements in advance.
Red — extreme weather with a high chance of danger to life and property, and widespread disruption. Follow all information and updates from the Met Office and the Department of Civil Protection.

Several warnings can be in force for the same area at once, for different hazards and different hours. Read the times, not only the colour.

Does a warning mean school or work is closed?

No. This is the part newcomers most often get wrong, in both directions — some set off when they should not have, and some stay home when nothing was closed.

The Met Office describes the weather. It does not close anything.
The Road Administration decides whether a road is closed, and publishes that on umferdin.is.
Your municipality, your child's school or daycare, and your employer decide about their own day, and announce it on their own pages and messaging channels.
In serious weather the Department of Civil Protection may advise people not to travel. That advice is for everyone, and employers here generally expect it to be followed.

So the order is simple: read the warning, check the road, then check what your school and your workplace have said. If nothing has been said and you are unsure, asking is normal and is not held against you.

Travelling between South Iceland and the capital area

Many people live in Suðurland — Selfoss, Hveragerði, Þorlákshöfn, Hvolsvöllur — and work in or near Reykjavík. The towns at each end can look perfectly calm while the road between them is the problem, because the mountain roads sit far higher than either town.

Hellisheiði is the main route on Route 1 between Hveragerði and the capital area. It is high, exposed, and closes in winter storms.
Þrengsli (Route 39) is the lower alternative towards Þorlákshöfn and Route 1. Sometimes one is open when the other is closed — sometimes neither is.
Both appear separately on the umferdin.is map, with their own status and their own wind measurements.
Check before you leave in the morning, and check again before you drive home. A road that was open at eight can be closed at four.

If the road closes while you are on the far side of it, you wait. That is the normal outcome here, not a failure. It is worth agreeing in advance with your employer, your partner and your child's school what happens on a day like that.

What to do in each situation

There is a yellow warning for the morning and you commute

What actually happens: Yellow weather is common in winter and most days go ahead as normal. The risk is usually wind gusts, ice and poor visibility rather than a closed road.
What to do: Check umferdin.is for your actual route before you leave, allow extra time, and make sure the car has proper winter tyres. If you are new to driving in snow and ice, travelling later in the morning, when the roads have been treated and it is light, is a reasonable choice.

An orange or red warning is announced for the hours you would be travelling

What actually happens: Roads may close at short notice and services may be disrupted. In a red warning, Civil Protection may advise everyone in the area to stay put.
What to do: Contact your employer before the warning starts, not after, and agree whether you work from home, come in later, or do not come in. Check what your child's school or daycare has said. Follow the official advice for the area you are in.
The common trap: Do not drive around a closed-road sign or barrier. Roads here are closed because of conditions people cannot see from the car, and the rescue teams that come out for you are volunteers.

You are not sure whether the road is passable and the website is unclear

What actually happens: The map uses colours and short Icelandic terms, and in fast changing weather the picture can lag behind what is outside.
What to do: Call 1777. It is the Road Administration's own traffic line, open every day from 06:30 to 22:00, and the staff answer questions about conditions on a specific stretch of road.

Your workplace expects you in and you do not think it is safe

What actually happens: Most employers here take weather seriously, but not every workplace explains that to new staff, and people who are worried about their job take risks they should not take.
What to do: Say plainly that the road on your route is closed or under an official warning, and offer an alternative — later start, work from home, a shift swap. If you are being pressed to travel against official advice, your union is the place to ask what is reasonable. Our work rights page explains how unions here work.

Getting ready before the winter starts

Winter tyres in good condition. Our driving page explains the rules and the dates.
A warm layer, hat and gloves kept in the car, not at home in the hall.
A phone charger or power bank in the car.
Shoe spikes (mannbroddar, say: MAN-brod-dar) for ice on pavements — the most common winter injury here is a fall, not a crash.
The umferdin.is and vedur.is pages saved on your phone screen.
An agreement at home and at work about what happens on a closed-road day, made before the first storm.

Common questions about weather and roads in Iceland

Conditions change through the day. These answers explain how the system works; the live picture is always on vedur.is and umferdin.is.

What do the weather warning colours in Iceland mean?: The Icelandic Met Office (Veðurstofa Íslands) uses green, yellow, orange and red. Yellow means weather that can be hazardous in places if you do not take care; it is fairly common and is not expected to disrupt transport or services across the board. Orange means weather that is likely to affect transport and services for a time and can be dangerous. Red means extreme weather with a high chance of danger to life and widespread disruption, and you should follow the Met Office and Civil Protection closely.
Where do I check if a road in Iceland is open?: Road conditions and closures are published by the Icelandic Road Administration (Vegagerðin) on umferdin.is, which is also in English and Polish. You can also call the traffic line 1777, which is open every day from 06:30 to 22:00 all year.
Does a yellow weather warning mean school and work are cancelled?: No. A weather warning is not itself a decision to close anything. Closures and changed opening hours are decided by your municipality, your school and your employer, and they announce them on their own pages and messaging channels. Check the warning, then check those.
How do I know if Hellisheiði is closed?: Hellisheiði and the Þrengsli road are on the same live map on umferdin.is, with their own status. In winter one can be closed while the other is open, so check both before you set out, and check again before you drive home.
What should I do if a red weather warning is issued while I am at work?: A red warning usually comes with advice from the Department of Civil Protection to stay where you are and not travel. Tell your employer, follow the official advice rather than your usual routine, and arrange with your school or daycare about collecting children. Call 112 only if someone is in danger.
Is the weather in South Iceland different from Reykjavík?: It can be very different on the same day. The mountain roads between Suðurland and the capital area sit higher than either town, so the drive can be the dangerous part of the day even when both ends look calm. Forecasts and warnings are issued per area, so read the one for the area you will travel through, not only the one you live in.

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