Learn Icelandic: Féll flugið niður út af óveðrinu? - Was the flight cancelled because of the storm?

The phrase út af (because of) always requires the following noun to be in the dative case. Here, the neuter noun óveður becomes óveðrinu because it is in the dative form and has the definite article attached to mean 'the' storm.

Does féll niður literally mean the flight fell out of the sky?

No, do not worry! While að falla niður literally translates to 'to fall down,' it is the standard Icelandic way to say that a scheduled event, like a flight, a class, or a meeting, has been cancelled.

Why is flugið placed between féll and niður?

Because this is a yes/no question, the main verb (féll) has to come first. The subject (flugið) must immediately follow the verb. The second part of the phrasal verb (niður) comes right after the subject.

Why did the second 'u' in óveður disappear when it became óveðrinu?

When you add an ending that starts with a vowel, like the dative definite article -inu, the unstressed 'u' in the second syllable of words like óveður drops out. This makes it flow better and is easier to pronounce: óveðrinu instead of óveðurinu.