People often say that February is the most difficult month of the Icelandic winter. With the festive season over and seemingly no end to the dark skies and miserable weather, February can admittedly be tough.

Despite the lack of snow in the capital this year to brighten up the short days, winter really hasn’t been too bad.

And, now, with February almost at a close, daylight clocks in at ten hours (sunrise: 8:42, sunset 6:40 today) and spring is just around the corner—or so we tell ourselves.

New heat records for this time of year were set on Monday: 15.3°C/59.5°F in Seyðisfjörður in East Iceland and 10.2°C/ 50.4°F in Reykjavík.

And before you know it, people will start planning their summer holidays, booking summer houses. After all, we’re less than two months away from Sumardagurinn fyrsti (‘The First Day of Summer’), this year on April 25.

Here is my own ‘must do’ list for this summer:

- Snorkeling in Silfra in Þingvellir National Park. The site attracts divers for its high visibility.
- Sea kayaking in beautiful Seyðisfjörður.
- Hiking: the highlands, the West Fjords, Vatnajökull National Park: hikers are spoilt for choice in Iceland.

But between now and then, we may see snowstorms and sunshine and everything in between.

Zoë Robert – zoe@icelandreview.com