UKC

We're off to Iceland next week and are wondering how bad the midges and insects will be, wondering if anyone has any experience? Also, we have plenty of "Smidge" but this has been designed for Scottish conditions. Has anyone experience of Smidge in Iceland or do you have any other suggestions? Thanks.

In reply to Mike H SNV:
My friend lives there and says you can get a lot of them but they mostly don't bite. Also the midges are most prevalent in the north east. So if you aren't heading there then you might not see any. Nothing like Scotland he says.

In reply to Mike H SNV:

I spent a month in Iceland at this time of year, mostly around skaftafell and was never bitten, or used repellent. People I was with said you did see mosquitoes in the north east, but not elsewhere.

In reply to Mike H SNV:

I've never encountered Scottish midges in Iceland but you do get small, lazy black flies in the NE and in the Highlands, and unlike midges, these are far less put off by anything above a gentle breeze. Nor have I found them to bite, though some say that they do.

On the other hand, they can be a nuisance (think flies in the Australian outback, if you've been there) and they can appear in large, dense swarms, so you might want to consider using a midge net.

(Presumably our word "midge" is derived from the the same word as the Icelandic stem "my", but although the Icelandic term is translated as "midge", it doesn't refer to the same thing as our word "midge".)