For Iceland, September marks the end of summer in Reykjavik and the start of autumn, followed by the ever dreaded, yet somehow usually surprising, winter.
For Icelanders, the beginning of September truly marks the new season. All of a sudden it’s dark at night – the schools have started, summer vacation is over and before you know it – boom – you’re stuck in a blizzard in the middle of January, cursing the sudden weather changes and dreaming of a warmer country with sandy beaches and chilled cocktails.
For everyone else however, the Icelandic summer really isn’t that much to cheer about anyways. Especially this particular summer that just passed us by. And let’s face it – it’s not like anyone is visiting Iceland for the stunning beaches and scorching sun right?
Iceland is good at a lot of things: Nature, music, people, water and so on and so forth. But we’re not good at weather. At best, we’re mediocre when it comes to weather. Nonetheless it’s probably the biggest and most current topic of choice for every Icelander everywhere. Ranging from classic oneliners such as “Það er blessuð blíðan” (meaning, “The weather is relatively good”, though do keep in mind that this phrase will be used equally as sarcasm and a genuine statement of the weather) to bullet-proof conversational ice-breakers which can be anything regarding the weather forecast, the overall bleakness of the weather, or simply the fact that it’s rather cold and we, anyone should be able to find something to their liking.
With summer finally over, we Icelanders have readjusted our expectations to the weather, and as such, won’t get as disappointed finding out the weather isn’t that great. Now it’s autumn, so one should expect the weather to be as it is.
So enjoy your stay and be prepared to encounter every imaginable weather scenario. Don’t worry though – you’ll be fine. Just make sure you have something warm close by – or go inside. It’s always warm inside.
