Dyngjujökull: Surge Warning and Holuhraun History

The dated surge warning

On November 12, 2025, the University of Iceland’s Institute of Earth Sciences reported GPS evidence that a surge had probably started. It advised people not to travel over Dyngjujökull because crevasses could be forming in areas that had been relatively uncrevassed for two decades. The Met Office issued a corresponding warning on November 19. These notices were checked September 10, 2026; this page does not establish that the warning has been lifted.

Keep the two events separate

Holuhraun’s 2014–2015 eruption was north of Vatnajökull, on the Bárðarbunga volcanic system. The Met Office’s chronology dates the episode from August 2014 to February 2015. That historical eruption and the later glacier surge are different events; old lava photographs do not describe current glacier travel conditions.

Names and location

The USGS reference identifies Dyngjujökull on Vatnajökull’s northern margin, gives Kistufellsjökull as an alternative name, and traces its name to the Trölladyngja lava shield. Use current official warnings and expert route advice rather than an old crossing track.

Sources and further planning

USGS: Geographic Names of Iceland’s Glaciers: Historic and Modern, Oddur Sigurðsson and Richard S. Williams Jr., 2008, printed page 69. Historical identification checked September 10, 2026.

University of Iceland: Dyngjujökull started to surge, November 12, 2025. Checked September 10, 2026.

Met Office: November 19, 2025 surge warning. Checked September 10, 2026.

Met Office: 2014–2015 Bárðarbunga/Holuhraun chronology. Checked September 10, 2026.

Continue with the wider region or glacier system, or compare guided glacier activities. For an actual departure, check SafeTravel alerts, weather warnings and road conditions.