Weather in Surtsey 2020-2024

The weather of Surtsey, the southernmost part of Iceland, is of great interest. Firstly, due to the location of Surtsey, the island is exposed to undisturbed southerly air masses moving towards Iceland and secondly the weather information can be vital for seafarers in the vicinity. Thirdly, the weather has great impact on the development of flora and fauna in the scientific laboratory that Surtsey is. Here we analyse the weather of the five-year period 2020–2024. The main aim is to analyse the data in such a way that it may be of use for understanding of the processes that are monitored on and around the island. The temperature and wind data are good but there were considerable failures in measurements of precipitation. A few months had unusual weather, especially the summer of 2022, which was cloudy and cool, while the winter 2022–2023 was characterized with warm and windy months as well as cold and calm months. During the analysis period a new maximum air temperature record was set on 11 July 2023 at 18.6°C, but broken on 14 July 2025 when temperature reached 22.6°C. Also, the highest and lowest mean sea level pressure records were made, 1050.4 hPa and 932.3 hPa, on 28 March and 15 February 2020, respectively.