Iceland by month.
There is no bad month, only the wrong jacket. Twelve honest pages from people who live here: what the light does, what the weather does, what's on, what's open, and what it costs. Numbers from the Icelandic Met Office, events from the organisers, opinions from the locals.
January
3/-2 °C · 4 h 30 min at the start daylight
Quiet, cheap, dark, and the northern lights are on every clear night.
February
3/-2 °C · 7 h 15 min at the start daylight
The locals' pick for a first winter trip: real daylight, full aurora season, prices still low.
March
4/-1 °C · 10 h 30 min at the start daylight
Daylight tips into surplus, the aurora still shows early in the month, and Beer Day opens it.
April
7/1 °C · 13 h 20 min at the start daylight
Shoulder season: unstable weather, empty roads, puffins returning, and a public holiday for summer that arrives in the snow.
May
10/4 °C · 16 h 15 min at the start daylight
Spring proper: waterfalls at full snowmelt, birds back, nights that never quite get dark, and prices only starting to climb.
June
13/7 °C · 20 to 21 hours daylight
Midnight sun, National Day, the highlands opening, and the country at its busiest and brightest.
July
15/9 °C · 21 hours at the start daylight
The warmest month, every road open, full midnight sun, and Reykjavík at its most crowded.
August
14/9 °C · 19 hours at the start daylight
Still summer, a little quieter, wild blueberries in the hills, and the aurora returns in the last week.
September
11/6 °C · 15 hours at the start daylight
Aurora is back, the birch turns gold, the roads are still open and the crowds are gone.
October
8/3 °C · 11 h 45 min at the start daylight
Long dark nights for the aurora, most roads still open, prices at the annual low, and the wettest weeks of the year.
November
5/-0 °C · 8 h 40 min at the start daylight
Cheap, dark and moody: a Reykjavík city break with aurora hunts, Airwaves, and the Christmas lights switching on.
December
3/-2 °C · 5 h 30 min at the start daylight
The shortest days, the Yule Lads, Christmas markets, and the biggest amateur fireworks display on Earth.