Sand and gravel on Iceland's roads: where it blows, and what it costs

By Stefán · Iceland Roads · Last updated October 2, 2026

What wind-blown sand does to a car

Vegagerðin's survey lists three ways sand drift affects road safety: it can cut visibility, sand can pile up on the road and change how the car handles, and it can damage vehicles. The damage examples it gives are ruined paint and even broken windows. Fine dust mostly hurts visibility; the coarse sand and small stones that travel in strong gusts are what do the real damage.

Sand banks that build up on the road can catch a driver by surprise, much like driving into a snowdrift, and sand on the surface gives more resistance than the road itself.

Where sand blows onto the road

These are the stretches we flag on our road pages. Each one is a segment of Vegagerðin's road-condition feed that its 2009 survey names as a sand-drift area. The survey covers the Ring Road only, and it is from 2009, and drift sites change: the survey itself credits revegetation with reducing drift at Núpsvötn and on Mýrdalssandur.

Mýrdalssandur

Three drift stretches across the sand, including at Múlakvísl. Revegetation and river management cut road closures here: the road was closed up to eight times a year in 1998-2002 and not at all in 2003.

Sources: Vegagerðin research report: Sandfok á Hringveginn (2009) · Blue Car Rental: Sand & Ash Protection · Thrifty Iceland: Sand & ash storms

Lómagnúpur

Under Lómagnúpur, gusts carry very coarse sand or small stones. The survey names this the most likely spot on the south section for gust-driven drift, the kind most likely to seriously damage a vehicle.

Sources: Vegagerðin research report: Sandfok á Hringveginn (2009)

Skeiðarársandur

Drift at Sandgígjukvísl and at both ends of the Skeiðará bridge, more than 20 times a year at Sandgígjukvísl. Fine sand can cut visibility, cause some damage to vehicles, and pile up on the road at the bridges.

Sources: Vegagerðin research report: Sandfok á Hringveginn (2009) · Thrifty Iceland: Sand & ash storms

Hvaldalssandur

Hvaldalssandur by Hvalnesskriður sees drift more than 20 times a year, mostly coarse material in gusts that can badly damage paint and break windows.

Sources: Vegagerðin research report: Sandfok á Hringveginn (2009)

Mývatnsöræfi

At Grjót and west of Jökulsá á Fjöllum, drift can cut visibility to as little as 100-200 m, and in the worst gusts coarse sand blows that damages cars.

Sources: Vegagerðin research report: Sandfok á Hringveginn (2009)

Biskupsháls

Very strong gusts from the southwest carry coarse sand. Cars have been damaged here, and cars have been blown off the road.

Sources: Vegagerðin research report: Sandfok á Hringveginn (2009)

Möðrudalsöræfi

Part of one continuous drift zone from Biskupsháls to Langidalur. Near Möðrudalur the survey records stones blown onto the road for a few hours in some years, broken windows, written-off cars and cars blown off the road.

Sources: Vegagerðin research report: Sandfok á Hringveginn (2009)

The survey lists more drift sites on the Ring Road than we flag: Markarfljót bridge, the Jökulsá í Lóni bridge, Meleyri by Breiðdalsvík and a stretch near Árkvíslar. We have not yet matched those to a single road segment with confidence, so they carry no note. Off the Ring Road, the survey says many highland roads such as Sprengisandsleið and Kjalvegur cross unvegetated ground where sand drift is common, but it did not map them.

Rental companies name the same core areas. Blue Car Rental singles out the regions around Vík, Skaftafell and Mýrdalssandur, and Thrifty names Mýrdalssandur and Skeiðarársandur.

Which winds bring it

On the south coast sands, the survey found northerly winds cause most of the drift, except at Hvaldalssandur and the eastern end of Mýrdalssandur, where southerly winds do. On Mývatnsöræfi, Biskupsháls and Möðrudalsöræfi it is mostly southerly winds.

Do not rely on a season. Veðurstofan weather observations from 1932 to 2008 record sand or dust drift most often in May and June, then July and September, and the survey concludes it can happen all year round.

How to check the wind before you cross

Safetravel advises checking weather and road conditions in the morning and a few times during the day, and choosing your speed according to the weather and the road. Conditions in Iceland can change fast.

On this site

Today's conditions lists the windiest road weather stations right now, with wind and gusts. On a route page, each segment on a known sand stretch shows the wind and gust measured there in the last hour, and the time of the reading.

Vegagerðin's own flags

Vegagerðin can mark a road segment with blowing sand (SANDBYLUR) or stone-throw (STEINKAST). When it does, our segment cards show it. That is the only source we treat as "sand is blowing now".

Veðurstofan forecasts

Per Vegagerðin's survey, Veðurstofan's forecasts do warn of sand drift, although there is no formal rule for when they do.

Gravel and stone-throw

Sand is not the only thing that hits the car. Vegagerðin's road-condition feed has its own flag for stone-throw and loose gravel (STEINKAST), which our pages label when it is set. Safetravel's advice for gravel is to slow down before it: tyres lose grip when you cross from a paved road onto gravel.

Insurance: who pays for sand damage

Usually you do, unless you bought the add-on. Blue Car Rental says standard rental insurances like CDW or SCDW do not cover damage caused by sand or volcanic ash, and that its Sand and Ash Protection covers the paint and bodywork, the windows and windshield, and the lights. Hertz Iceland lists damage due to sand, ash, gravel or any other earthy material among the things its CDW and SCDW do not cover.

Vegagerðin's survey makes the same point from the other side: insurers do not pay for damage from sand drift or from gravel, ash or pumice blown onto a vehicle, and rental companies told the researchers such damage is not uncommon, with the renter liable. Read your own rental contract; terms differ between companies. More on rental cover in our car rental guide.

Common questions

At what wind speed does sand start damaging a car in Iceland?

There is no official number, and we will not invent one. How much sand moves depends on the ground, how dry it is and the gusts, not on a single wind speed. What we do instead is show the live wind and gust at the road weather station on each known sand stretch, with the time it was measured, so you can see what is happening there right now.

Does standard rental insurance (CDW) cover sand damage?

No, according to the rental companies themselves. Blue Car Rental says standard CDW and SCDW do not cover damage caused by sand or volcanic ash, and Hertz Iceland lists damage from sand, ash, gravel or other earthy material as excluded from CDW and SCDW. Sand and ash protection (SAAP) is the separate add-on that covers it, so check your own contract.

Where in Iceland does sand blow onto the road?

Vegagerðin's 2009 survey found 21 stretches of the Ring Road where sand blows onto the road, together just under 50 km. The ones we flag are on the south and southeast coast (Mýrdalssandur, under Lómagnúpur, Skeiðarársandur, Hvaldalssandur) and in the northeast highlands (Mývatnsöræfi, Biskupsháls, Möðrudalsöræfi).

Is there a sandstorm season?

Not a reliable one. Veðurstofan observations from 1932 to 2008, summarised in Vegagerðin's survey, record sand or dust drift most often in May and June, then July and September, and the survey concludes it can happen in any month.

Sources

The Vegagerðin survey is linked through the Internet Archive because the original vegagerdin.is address no longer resolves. Last updated: October 2, 2026.