Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland (N. lat. 64° 9´), enjoys a more genial climate than any place whose temperature is recorded between the parallels of 55° and 85° (N. lat.), except only St Petersburg (N. lat. 59° 56´) and Sitka Sound (N. lat. 57° 3´). The mean of the year is but 1° (F.) less than that of St John’s, which lies 16° farther south. The winter corresponds with that of Illukuk, 10° to the south, and the summer is much hotter. Humboldt’s mean temperature, 40° F., is generally adopted, although some reduce it to 39°·4, and even to 39°. He makes February, the coldest month, average 28°·22, and July, the hottest, 56°·3—a difference of over 28°, which others reduce to 27°. He fixes the winter mean at 29°·1; the spring at 36°·9; the summer at 53°·6 (in Berghaus’ Atlas, 50°); and the autumn at 37°·9. Dillon (pp. 167, 168), during the severest season of half-a-century, saw the mercury as low as 10° (F.), in February; and Pliny Miles (p. 55) declares that the thermometer seldom falls below 12° or 18°.
It will be remembered that the annual mean of climates, where civilisation is highest, represents in Europe 52° (F.), and the zone is 15° north and south of N. lat. 40°, an undulating belt of 30° arching towards the equator and the poles. Including its protraction eastward and westward, it contains 95/100ths of the white races, and almost all the greatest development.
Certain valuable “notes on the distribution of animals available as food in the Arctic regions,” compiled by Herr Petermann, and published in the Journal of the R. Geog. Society (vol. xxii.), enable us to compare the thermometer in the south and in the north of the island. “Reykiavig” (N. lat. “64°·08´´) is placed between New Herrnhut and Fort Reliance, whilst Eyjafjörð (N. lat. 66° 30´), stands between Fort Hope and Winter Island.
The figures are as follows:
| Spring. | Summer. | Autumn. | Winter. | Annual mean. | Difference Sum. & Wint. | ||
| 1. | New Herrnhut, | 26°·15 | 39°·28 | 26°·50 | 14°·30 | 26°·83 | 24°·48 |
| Reykjavik, | 37°·04 | 53°·54 | 37°·94 | 29°·18 | 39°·43 | 24°·36 | |
| Fort Reliance, | ” | 12°·21 | ” | -16°·97 | 16° (?) | “ | |
| 2. | Fort Hope, | -4°·73 | 39°·59 | 13°·93 | -25°·09 | 5°·96 | 64°·68 |
| Eyjafjörð, | 28°·10 | 45°·80 | 34°·46 | 20°·84 | 32°·30 | 24°·96 | |
| Winter Island, | 6°·35 | 31°·80 | 17°·58 | -20°·47 | 8°·82 | 52°·27 |
Ranged according to seasons and months, the figures stand:
| Spring. | ||||||
| New Herrnhut | in February (coldest), | 22°·10 | in March | 21°·65 | in April | 24°·80 |
| Reykjavik | ” | 28°·31 | ” | 29°·86 | ” | 36°·46 |
| Fort Reliance | ” | -18°·84 | ” | -6°·14 | ” | 8°·23 |
| Port Hope | ” | -26°·68 | ” | -28°·10 | ” | -23°·95 |
| Eyjafjörð | ” | 18°·50 | ” | 20°·66 | ” | 27°·50 |
| Winter Island | ” | -23°·99 | ” | 10°·72 | ” | 6°·48 |
| Summer. | ||||||
| New Herrnhut | in May, | 32°·0 | in June, | 40°·10 | in July, (hottest), | 40°·33 |
| Reykjavik | ” | 44°·80 | ” | 51°·58 | ” | 56°·19 |
| Fort Reliance | ” | 36°·03 | ” | ” | ” | “ |
| Fort Hope | ” | 17°·88 | ” | 31°·38 | ” | 41°·46 |
| Eyjafjörð | ” | 36°·14 | ” | 43°·52 | ” | 46°·94 |
| Winter Island | ” | 23°·29 | ” | 23°·17 | ” | 35°·36 |
| Autumn. | ||||||
| New Herrnhut | in August | 37°·40 | in September, | 34°·03 | in October, | 32°·90 |
| Reykjavik | ” | 52°·86 | ” | 46°·45 | ” | 36°·91 |
| Fort Reliance | ” | ” | ” | ” | ” | 20°·70 |
| Fort Hope | ” | 46°·32 | ” | 28°·57 | ” | 12°·56 |
| Eyjafjörð | ” | 46°·94 | ” | 43°·16 | ” | 34°·34 |
| Winter Island | ” | 36°·86 | ” | 31°·61 | ” | 13°·25 |
| Winter. | ||||||
| New Herrnhut | in November, | 15°·80 | in December | 11°·75 | in January | 9°·05 |
| Reykjavik | ” | 30°·45 | ” | 29°·41 | ” | 29°·82 |
| Fort Reliance | ” | 13°·44 | ” | -17°·07 | ” | -25°·00 |
| Fort Hope | ” | 0°·68 | ” | -19°·27 | ” | -29°·32 |
| Eyjafjörð | ” | 25°·88 | ” | 18°·32 | ” | 25°·70 |
| Winter Island | ” | 7°·88 | ” | -14°·24 | ” | -23°·17 |
Dr Joseph Chavanne, before alluded to, gives the following table of the wind temperature at Reykjavik, showing the deviations from mean:
| Winter.—Mean Temperature -1·8. | |||||||||||||
| N. | N.E. | E. | S.E. | S. | S.W. | W. | N.W. | Max. | Min. | Diff. | |||
| 3·6 | -2·2 | +1·3 | +4·1 | +3·7 | +1·1 | -1·4 | -2·9 | E. 68, | S. +4·4 | N. -3·6 | 8·0 | ||
| Summer.—Mean Temperature +11.0. | |||||||||||||
| 0·0 | +0·5 | +0·1 | +0·2 | +0·3 | -0·7 | -1·0 | -1·3 | E. 30, S. +0·7 | W. 35, | N. -1·6 | 2·3 | ||