Icelanders had just soaked up the last rays of summer sun and prepared for a cool and still autumn with the usual chaotic sheep roundups and berry picking in multicolor heather when the season’s first low struck.

Snow in North Iceland in early September is not unheard of but snowfall of two to three meters overnight at this time of year—when the sheep are still in highland pastures—is highly unusual.

Coupled with blackouts across the region, from Blönduós in the west to Þórshöfn in the east, due to icing of power lines and we’re looking at an unprecedented situation.

Snowbound commuters is serious but thousands of sheep buried alive in snowdrifts is nothing short of disastrous.

Farmers in North Iceland, who may be looking at losing their entire livestock, aided by search and rescue workers and other volunteers, have trekked the mountains in difficult conditions day after day to rescue the trapped sheep.

Armed with long sticks as used to look for people buried in avalanches, they have succeeded in finding hundreds of sheep. Although not all have survived, most of these amazingly hardy creatures were alive after days in icy graves.

The search continues but hope grows fainter by the minute. In areas where the lambs had been separated from the ewes, the search parties will now focus on the ewes as they are more likely to have sought shelter under ridges where air pockets may have been created.

Farmers say they have never experienced anything like this in their lifetime and hope they never will again.

These current weather conditions go to show how flimsy the weather gods can be when it comes to Iceland. There is no clear distinction between seasons; winters are usually mild and the summers cool.

http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_life/Winter_Strikes_%28ESA%29_0_393526.news.aspx

There have been reports of foxes having attacked sheep still trapped in the snow in North Iceland after Sunday’s blizzard.
 
Search and rescue, who are working to free sheep stuck under up to 10 feet (3 meters) of snow, have found some animals wounded or dead after being attacked by foxes.
 
A state of emergency was declared in North Iceland following high winds and record snowfall for this time of year.
 
Thousands of sheep are still unaccounted for.
 
http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=29314&ew_0_a_id=393546