Iceland's capital experienced its hottest day on record Wednesday as temperatures in Reykjavik hit 24.8?C.
The unusually warm weather was caused by slow-moving low fronts resulting from Hurricane Alex, which hit the east coast of the US last week, said Thorsteinn V. Jonsson, a spokesman for the Iceland Meteorological Office. The previous high for Reykjavik was 24.3?C, recorded on July 9, 1976. The average daily high for the capital in August is 13?C.
"Everybody's very excited about this. They're calling in and reading temperatures that say 30?C from their garden thermometers," Jonsson said. "Unfortunately we have to tell them we use more precise methods."
He said the highest temperature ever recorded in Iceland, according to the most reliable data, was 29.2?C, recorded in Kirkjubaerklaustur in eastern Iceland on July 2, 1991.
"Yesterday we had 29.1?C at Skaftafell," in eastern Iceland, Jonsson said, adding that he didn't expect Wednesday's highs to beat that figure.
Icelanders were taking advantage of the warm weather. The country's internal revenue service, which employs more than 100 people, closed Tuesday at noon.
Many other employers followed suit on Wednesday.
"It's just like a Spanish beach," stated an official at Nautholsvik, a manmade geothermal beach in Reykjavik. "You have to tiptoe between people.
"Yesterday we had 7,000 people over the day. Today we will have more," the official said Tuesday.
"On a normal sunny day in August, we usually have 300 to 400 people," the official said.
Iceland has a population of some 290,000, of whom about 180,000 live in the capital and surrounding area.
The largest swimming complex in Iceland, Laugardalslaug, had reached its 3,000 person capacity, officials said, adding that they had run out of locker space.
Business at Reykjavik's ice cream shops was also unusually brisk on Wednesday.
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