Palaeomagnetic measurements have been carried out on lava flows and volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks of Upper Pliocene and Pleistocene age from sections on the Tjornes Peninsula and a core section from the Island of Flatey off North Iceland. Earlier palaeomagnetic work in the area is reviewed, and new data on the stratigraphy of the Hoskuldsvik Group on Tjornes are presented. A revised polarity column based on our results is set up for the outcrops on Tjornes, including two additional normal subchrons within the Matuyama. Our palaeomagnetic results indicate that the rocks penetrated by the Flatey drillhole accumulated during the Matuyama. Age estimates for the Upper Tjornes sequence are reviewed, and correlation alternatives indicate that the earliest glaciation of Tjornes took place either at c.2 Ma or near the Gauss/Matuyama boundary at c.2.5 Ma. Correlation of individual Matuyama subchrons remains uncertain. A comparison of the climatic evidence from the Tjornes area with data on oxygen isotope and carbonate variations at DSDP site 552A is used to evaluate correlation alternatives.