The capital has seen just 30 minutes of sunshine this month, matching conditions not experienced since 1934
Sweden is experiencing one of its darkest Decembers on record, with Stockholm logging barely half an hour of sunshine through mid-month. The last time conditions were this gloomy, you ask? December 1934, when the entire month passed without a single hour of measurable sunshine. Good times.
According to the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Stockholm has recorded just about 0.5 sunshine hours so far in December 2025. A steep drop from the typical 33 hours the capital normally sees during the month.
“It’s been dominated by low pressure and a lot of clouds,” SMHI meteorologist Linus Falk told Sweden Herald. “If this had been in the summer, the clouds could have been burned away by the sun that is high in the sky, but now in winter the sun is lower and does not have the same power.“
Southern Sweden Takes the Worst Hit
The darkness stretches across much of southern Sweden, with multiple cities on track to break their own records:
Gothenburg: Just 3.8 sunshine hours. Poised to become the city’s darkest December ever recorded.
Lund: Only 2.2 hours of sunshine.
Norrköping, Umeå, and Luleå: All recorded less than one hour of sun during the first half of December.
Visby and Borlänge: Coming in strong with each managing one hour total.
Why It Matters
The impact goes beyond just gloomy weather. With the sun rising around 8:35 AM and setting by 2:50 PM in Stockholm, residents are facing barely six hours of potential daylight, and that’s assuming clear skies. At 59 degrees north latitude, the winter sun barely climbs above the horizon, reaching only about seven degrees at noon.
The lack of sunlight affects everything from vitamin D production to mood and circadian rhythms. SMHI’s Linus Falk offered practical advice: “Maybe it’s time to get out the vitamin D bottle and the sun lamp.” Because who doesn’t have a sun lamp casually lying around at home?
The contrast with summer is dramatic. Stockholm typically enjoys over 18 hours of daylight in June, with nearly 10 hours of actual sunshine. This December’s conditions represent the opposite extreme of Sweden’s seasonal pendulum.
No light at the end of the tunnel
The forecast offers little hope for improvement. Meteorologists predict continued low pressure and cloud cover through the end of December, although individual locations may catch brief glimpses of sunshine.
For Scandinavian-Americans watching from sunnier climates, this record-breaking darkness is perhaps a stark reminder of why you packed your bags and headed west in the first place. And timely validation for those who’ve been missing Lussebullar and Scandinavian Christmas markets a bit too much this season.
