Sólheimajökull
An outlet glacier retreating sixty metres a year
Photograph by Yuri Ikeda on Wikimedia Commons
About Sólheimajökull
An outlet glacier of the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap, which itself sits on top of the Katla caldera, running down between Katla and Eyjafjallajökull near Vík. Its accessibility is why so many people walk on it, and its retreat is why it is worth seeing now: the ice is melting at around sixty metres a year in warmer annual temperatures, and it is possible that many Icelandic glaciers will be gone within the next century. Glacial lake outburst floods occasionally take this route to the sea. In summer 2026 visitors were warned of unstable conditions on both the ice and the access paths.
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Nearby, across borders
Within 60 km as the crow flies, in any country.





