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Summer of 2018 is worst on record: Less sunshine, more rain in Reykjavík

By Staff

Summer travel in Iceland If your idea of a summer vacation is basking in the sun you should go somewhere else to spend your summer vacation! Photo/Vilhelm

Reykjavíkians are experiencing the worst summer on record: The summer of 2018 has delivered less sun and more rain than any summer on record. The first 14 weeks of summer only saw 343.7 hours of sunshine and nearly 300 mm (11.8 in) of rain.

Read more: Massive rockslide in W. Iceland: Unusually heavy rain of recent weeks, months likely causes

According to Icelandic tradition the first day of summer is on April 19, which means we are now 15 weeks into summer. The weather has been unusually miserable in May, June and July, according to the weatherblogger Trausti Jónsson, Iceland's best known and most trusted meteorologist. Trausti points out that the lack of sunshine and record quantity of rain is unusually bad.

The average temperature in Reykjavík during the first 14 weeks of "summer" was just 7.7°C (45.9°F). Trausti notes that only two summers have been similarly chilly in recent decades: 2015 and 1993. Chilly summers were more common in the first half of the 20th century.

The serious shortage of sunshine and excessive supply of rain are more unusual he points out. The 300 mm (11.8 in) of rain is not matched in any year. The summers of 2014 and 1887 come closest, with 250 mm (9.9 in) of rain. The 343.7 hours of sunshine are similar to the overcast summers of 1913, 1914 and 1984.