Rescue teams were hard at work in the early hours coming to the aid of vehicles stuck in blinding snow on Holtavörðuheiði, the part of the no.1 ring road in the mountains leading to North Iceland. Dislogding the cars took around three hours.

People were warned yesterday to follow the weather forecast closely but the storm hit early this morning with around 18 metres per second of wind and heavy snowfall leading to no visibility.

"We couldn't see anything at all," said Gunnar Örn Jakobsson, director of the Húni rescue team. "The visibility was close to none, we were only guided by our GPS system."

Seven lorries are still stuck on the heath and snow ploughs will be required to dislodge them once the weather goes down.

Only one of the cars stuck was driven by tourists, and it was pulled out by rescue teams and turned around.

Holtavörðuheiði therefore remains closed to all traffic and people are urged to keep updated by checking out the Road Administration website.

People should also take note that there's a yellow alert, or blizzard conditions, up for the area close to Skaftafell in Öræfi with wind and blinding snow. Violent gusts will cross the road of 40-45 m/s.