This temperature was also recorded concurrently in the neighbouring settlement of Möðrudalur on 21 January 1918.

[2] It is situated just off Route 1 (the main ring road around the island), where it crosses the large river Jökulsá á Fjöllum, about 37 km or 23 miles east of Lake Mývatn.

The river was bridged in 1947: before that, traffic between north and east Iceland had to use a ferry.

[3] It also has an airstrip, in common with many isolated rural settlements in Iceland.

It is a recognised stop on the bus route between Akureyri and Egilsstaðir (up to one bus per day in summer) although it is only during summer that the buses venture off the main road to the settlement itself.