Words by

Hannah Jane Cohen

Photo by

Adobe Stock Image

While Iceland is known worldwide for its unpredictable and horrendous weather, things weren’t always so wet here. In fact, back in the old days the worst rain you’d experience was a delicate fine mist that you could walk through for hours in without getting soaked. The idea of pelting barrels of water hurdling down was positively ludicrous. Therefore, when natives traveled abroad they were in for a moist treat, and that kind of “screw you” London drenching rain became known as ‘útlandarigning,’ or ‘foreign rain’—as it was rain Icelanders only experienced abroad.

Nowadays, útlandarigning is a daily occurrence in Reykjavík. Thanks, global warming.

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