“I’m afraid that someone has just been hit in the face with a sledgehammer,” writes Ólafur Stephensen, Managing Director of the Federation of Icelandic Employers (FA), in a Facebook post in which he comments on the new inflation figures.

Inflation is now measured at 5.2%, increasing by 0.38 percentage points since December.

Sigurgeir Brynjar Kristgeirsson, CEO of Vinnslustöðin in the Westman Islands, says the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute’s conclusion that the maximum capelin catch for the 2025/2026 fishing year will be 197,474 tonnes is a lifeline for those who buy capelin and sell it on into the market ahead of the next season.

An earthquake swarm began near Lambafell, 2–3 km west of Þrengsli, at around 16:30 yesterday and is still ongoing.

The damage caused by this morning’s fire at Garðvík’s industrial building in Húsavík is estimated at close to one hundred million krónur.

“I’ve been around many of the actions that have been taking place. I’ve lived here in Minneapolis for three years, and I live downtown,” says Karvel Ágúst Schram in an interview with mbl.is. He has been following the large protests and unrest among residents in recent days, after agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) killed Alex Pretti and Renée Nicole Good in cold blood in the city two weeks apart.

Forty-one Icelanders are aged 100 and older. Two of them still have a spouse living.

The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute’s advice on the total capelin quota will be issued later this week, but it is already clear that fishermen are eager to get out to the fishing grounds.

Eyjagöng ehf., which is preparing to construct a tunnel between the mainland and the Westman Islands, has secured a large portion of its ISK 200 million financing target. The company was founded two months ago, and construction is expected to begin in the near future.

“It’s a long story, but I’ll keep it short,” says Erin McHale, a biologist from Old Bridge, New Jersey, who will complete her PhD this spring at the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. McHale is a specialist in bats and their behaviour — and she dreams of working in Iceland in the future.

Icelandair has cancelled some of its flights to the United States today, as well as arrivals from the US scheduled for tomorrow morning. Several flights are still operating as planned.

Republican members of the US Congress celebrating at a reception on Wednesday night likely had no idea they were unwittingly recreating a moment from Reykjavik history — echoing a party held in Grjótaþorpið in downtown Reykjavik a full century earlier.

A Taiwanese company, Brogent Technologies, has reached an agreement to acquire the Icelandic company Flyover Attractions, which includes Flyover Iceland. The management of Flyover Iceland says the company’s operations will remain unchanged.

The Marine Research Institute’s vessels Þórunn Þórðardóttir and Árni Friðriksson left the capelin survey route around midday yesterday and headed closer to shore due to the weather. Þórunn took shelter in Aðalvík in the Hornstrandir area, while Árni sought refuge in Húnaflói.

“We are approaching this with full commitment, and I hope that we can finally reach an agreement,” says Anton Kári Halldórsson, municipal manager of Rangárþing eystra.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has received confirmation from U.S. authorities that U.S. President Donald Trump was not referring to Iceland when he mentioned the country four times in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday.

Most real estate agents believe that market activity remains low for this time of year and that conditions still favour buyers.

Support for the Centre Party has increased by three percentage points month-on-month and now stands at 22.2% in the latest poll by Maskína. This is just under five percentage points lower than support for the Social Democratic Alliance, which measures at 27%.

Niceair’s planned flight from Akureyri to Copenhagen, scheduled for February, will not go ahead. This was to have been the relaunched airline’s inaugural flight.

Yesterday was a hectic day at the emergency department of Landspítali University Hospital in Fossvogur. Dozens of people sought treatment for slip-and-fall injuries, and it can be said that hazardous conditions prevailed in southwest Iceland due to icy roads and pavements.

The bridge over the river Jökulsá at Breiðamerkursandur, near Jökulsárlón on the Ring Road, will be closed from 7:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. tomorrow night.

Magma continues to accumulate slowly and steadily beneath Svartsengi. Nearly 20 million cubic metres of magma have now accumulated there since the last eruption in July.

Numerous traffic accidents have occurred so far this morning after black ice formed on roads in the capital area.

The owner of four dogs in Akranes appealed a decision by the Planning and Environment Committee of the Municipality of Akranes to ban dog ownership at his home to the Environmental and Natural Resources Appeals Committee.

Veitur has increased the fixed charge for district heating by 48.9% over the course of one year, without the increases being presented to city councillors.

The Danish patrol vessel Thetis is currently in Skjálfandi.

Icelanders can continue to expect spectacular northern lights displays in the coming months and years. Aurora activity is generally more frequent in the years following the peak of the so-called sunspot cycle, which occurred in 2024.

A yellow weather warning for a southeast storm is in effect in Breiðafjörður, where winds are very strong at 19–23 m/s, with gusts of up to 35 m/s. Conditions are therefore hazardous for vehicles that are susceptible to strong crosswinds.

Karen Stephensen Halldórsdóttir, a small-boat fisher, suggests that draft regulations on coastal fishing, published in the government consultation portal, are sexist.

“I guess that if there is an eruption, it will probably be the last one. That’s just my guess,” says volcanologist Þorvaldur Þórðarson about a possible eruption along the Sundhnúkagígar crater row.

No work is currently taking place on the protective barriers at Grindavík, but those involved remain on alert and ready to respond should a volcanic eruption begin.

Billy Long, whom U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated as ambassador to Iceland, says in an interview with Arctic Today that he apologizes for remarks he made earlier this week about turning Iceland into the 52nd state of the United States, with himself as its governor.

Any attempt by the United States to seize Greenland by force would have “monumental consequences” for the Western alliance and the global order.

A petition has been launched on island.is calling on Minister for Foreign Affairs Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir to reject Billy Long as the United States ambassador to Iceland, following remarks he made informally to members of the U.S. Congress yesterday, as reported by Politico.

Iceland’s Parliament, Alþingi, meets today, Wednesday, following a nearly month-long Christmas recess. Parliamentary sittings were adjourned on 18 December 2025.