At 11.55am on Thursday, the sun dropped below the horizon at Treriksröset, Sweden’s northernmost point on the border with Finland and Norway, less than an hour after it rose at 10.57am.

The next time it will appear above the horizon will be in January 2024.

And the polar night – the opposite to the midnight sun, meaning there are no hours of daylight – will now move southwards.

Sweden’s northernmost settlement, Kummavuopio with one registered resident as of December 2023, will get a last glimpse of the sun on Friday. The sun will set for the year at 11.53am.

It will set in the next village of Keinovuopio at 11.30am on Saturday, after peeking above the horizon for just 12 minutes.

The polar night will begin in Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost actual city, in mid-December.

The phenomenon occurs only in the Arctic Circle, which starts near Jokkmokk, but the days are getting shorter and shorter in other parts of Sweden too. This will continue until the winter solstice, which falls on December 22nd at 4.27am.

After that, the sun will – slowly – make its return.