Feeling the Chill: Iceland's Expats

The 3,000 or so Icelanders who live, work and study in Britain may not have troubled the headlines as much as the country's bankers and politicians, but many are beginning to feel the effects of the financial crisis as keenly as their friends and families back home.

Despite the insulation provided by the British economy, expats find themselves unable to access the savings they had in Icelandic banks and increasingly skint because of the weakened krona.

Lilja Johannsdottir, a 23-year-old economics student from Reykjavik, was three weeks into her masters degree at University College London when Iceland's banking system collapsed.

She's now wondering how she will pay for the course.

"The problem is that I got a student loan from Iceland, paid in krona, when there were 153 kronur to the pound [there are now 193]. I haven't paid my tuition yet and cannot really afford it," she said. "Lots of students are going back to Iceland to get another loan because we have to pay our tuition at the end of the month."

Although she's confident that things will get better, Johannsdottir can't help feeling anxious.

"I should be thinking about studying and not worrying about my money."

"Some of my Icelandic friends here are thinking about getting a job here and not going back home because it could take a while for the economy to get back to normal."

Sigrun Davidsdottir, a freelance journalist who has been in Britain for eight years, knows where her money is, but can't get to it.

"It's not a desperate situation yet as the money is still there and has not gone, but for me and for many other Icelanders, it's a great nuisance," she said.

Davidsdottir, who is 52, is lucky enough to have savings in Britain, but feels sorry for the Icelanders who have traveled abroad to study.

She, like many of her compatriots, believes that the British government's treatment of Iceland - which included using anti-terror legislation to seize £4bn in Icelandic resources - was "absolutely and completely over the top" and had more to do with reassuring UK depositors than finding the best solution to the problem.