Red weather warning – all schools are closed

English below

The National Police Commissioner has declared a state of alert for the entire country due to severe weather tomorrow, Friday 14 February. A red weather warning has been issued for the capital region from 7 a.m. tomorrow, meaning that people should not be travelling unless it is absolutely essential.

Regular school provision will be cancelled, but nurseries and primary schools will nevertheless remain open with a skeleton staff for people who absolutely need childcare – namely, those working in emergency services, law enforcement, firefighting and rescue services. The weather is forecast to ease after 3 p.m., meaning that various services will be disrupted or cancelled tomorrow morning and possibly throughout the day. 

Key information

• Public school classes are cancelled.
• The swimming pools in Hafnarfjörður will be closed but will open at 3 p.m.
• After-school clubs will open when the alerts end. As things stand, an amber alert is in effect until 15:00.
• There will be a reduction in home care services, but emergencies will be dealt with as far as possible.
• Museums will be closed tomorrow unless otherwise announced.
• The customer service centre and service centre will be open and answering the phone.

People are urged to stay at home tomorrow morning and to pay close attention to announcements from the civil defence authorities in the media. According to forecasts, the weather is expected to improve after midday, and it will be possible to be out and about after 3 p.m., provided nothing changes.

The situation will be reassessed tomorrow morning.

Further information on weather warnings is available on the Met Office website: https://www.vedur.is/vidvaranir/svaedi/rvk

 English

Red Weather Alert tomorrow – people should stay at home

The Chief of Police has declared a public safety alert for the entire country tomorrow, Friday 14 February. A red weather alert has been issued for the greater Reykjavík area from 7 am tomorrow morning. This means that no one should go outside unless it is an emergency.

All regular school activities will not be in operation, but schools will remain open with minimum staff for people who need to work in emergency operations, such as the police, ambulances, fire services and rescue operations.

The big storm will subside after 3 pm (15:00), which means that most services will be disrupted tomorrow morning and even for the whole day.

• People are urged to stay at home tomorrow and follow instructions from the authorities.
• People should be able to go outside after 3 pm.
• If necessary, new announcements will be sent out tomorrow morning.
• All schools will be closed except for those who work in emergency services.
• The swimming pools will be closed until 3 pm.
• After-school leisure centres will be closed until 3 pm.