Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

DISCOVER SWEDEN

The sun will now not set in northern Sweden until mid-July

It's the season of the midnight sun (midnattssol) when the sun remains fully above the horizon around the clock.

Published: 24 May 2022 09:50 CEST
The sun will now not set in northern Sweden until mid-July
A view of the midnight sun on Norway's Lofoten Islands. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen/Scanpix

At 38 minutes after midnight on Monday, the sun rose in Karesuando, Sweden’s most northerly settlement, and will not now set until mid-July.

The midnight sun first arrived at the Swedish border on Saturday, and will now move slowly south towards the Arctic Circle until the summer solstice on June 21st, with the ski resort of Riksgränsen getting it on May 25th, and Kiruna, Sweden’s most northerly city on May 28th. 

Even if you do not live in an area that gets the midnight sun in Sweden, the days are still growing longer. Down in Stockholm, the sun is currently up for almost three-quarters of the day (more than 17 hours), and the same is true in Gothenburg, with Malmö getting more than 16 hours of sunlight each day.

The summer solstice, when the day is at its longest and the night at its shortest, is on June 21st.

Do you live in northern Sweden? Please send your photos of the midnight sun to [email protected], with ‘Midnight sun’ as the subject line.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Reader photos of the week: Celebrating the arrival of spring in Sweden

Every week, The Local invites readers to submit their pictures to our photo competition, to bring our audience together from all parts of Sweden.

Published: 3 May 2024 11:25 CEST
Reader photos of the week: Celebrating the arrival of spring in Sweden

This week’s winner, featured above, is Aimee Clark. She told The Local she and her family hung out with lambs at Gunnes gård in Upplands Väsby. She says it’s a “free to enter Viking farm where they have free range sheep”.

We got so many good pictures this week of readers celebrating Walpurgis Day – when Swedes light bonfires to welcome the start of spring – so we included a few more honourable mentions below.

Angie De Quaye sent in this picture of a Walpurgis bonfire in Malmö. Photo: Angie de Quaye

Quirin van Os snapped this picture of the Walpurgis bonfire in Sörby, Lakene. Photo: Quirin van Os

Kira Abeln sent in this lovely picture of a Walpurgis bonfire on the seaside in Råå. Photo: Kira Abeln

Mylinda Campbell Jonasson, based in Helsingborg, writes that she always takes off her shoes the first time of the year this day. Photo: Mylinda Campbell Jonasson

You can submit your entries via email at [email protected] with the subject “Photo of the week”, or by submitting your photo to X using the hashtag #TheLocalSwedenPOTW – or look out for our Facebook post every Monday on The Local Sweden where you can submit your photo. Please tell us your name so we can credit you as the photographer, and tell us a little bit about the photo and where it was taken.

By submitting a photo, you’re giving us permission to republish it on The Local’s website, our social media and newsletters.

SHOW COMMENTS