The highest temperature to hit Iceland in March by far was recorded at 20.5°C (68.9°F) at the farm Kvísker in Öræfi, southeast Iceland, on Thursday; previous reports assumed a one-degree lower temperature as measured by the Icelandic Road Administration.

Early summer in Reykjavík. Is spring around the corner? Archive photo by Páll Kjartansson.

The record was confirmed by the Icelandic Meteorological Office’s automated weather observation post which is located by the farm, whereas the Road Administration’s post is down by the road, Morgunblaðið reports.

The record temperature was measured twice...

The environmental initiative “Green April”, where information, products and services that are considered to be environmentally-friendly are highlighted, has begun with a recognition granted to the executives of the shopping mall Kringlan in Reykjavík.

Kringlan (to the right of the towers). Photo by Dagbjört Oddný Matthíasdóttir.

At Kringlan 38 percent of the waste is sorted which saves the mall ISK 2.5 million (USD 20,000, EUR 15,000) in waste fees. It is the first of the country’s larger shopping malls to encourage recycling with separate waste bins, Fréttablaðið reports...

Every year, I escape the city with my husband and family for a few days over the Easter weekend to our country cottage, or sumarhús (literally: “summerhouse”).

I love this time of year in the Icelandic countryside. What I love the most are the evenings and quiet nights when the stars come out of hiding and the winter chill has returned, sometimes with a wind reminiscent of a ghastly whisper.

Since my teens, I have been fortunate enough to have a cottage I can call my own, a cottage to which I can return to at my heart’s content and where I can spend as much time as I please.

I know where to...

A new music project, the concert series Stopover, begins this month. The first concert, where This Will Destroy You, a rock group from Texas, and the Icelandic band kimono will perform, will take place in the Harpa concert center in Reykjavík on April 17.

This Will Destroy You.

This Will Destroy You, which is planning to end its month-long European tour in Iceland, will also perform at a small introductory concert at KEX Hostel on April 15 along with the Icelandic band Náttfari, to which admission is free.

The Stopover Series is a collaborative project by Kimi Records, KEX Hostel, Icelandair...