Measurements of nitrogen dioxide total amounts have been performed by ground‐based visible spectrometry at Keflavik, Iceland (64.0°N, 22.6°W) during EASOE. NO2 column amounts below 1×1015 molec/cm² are measured between December 1991 and mid‐February 1992, the lowest values being reached inside the polar vortex during the coldest period of the campaign. The usual correlation between sunset NO2 total columns and 20 hPa temperatures was not observed during the warming of the stratosphere in February. This indicates low N2O5 amounts outside the vortex, possibly related to heterogeneous reactions on Pinatubo aerosol particles. However the low NO2 contents observed could be attributed partly to the advection of air masses from the polar night region.