Midnight sun and polar night dates for 16 northern cities with a weather page on this site, from our NOAA-method calculation for 2026. At Tromsø the sun does not set from 18 May to 24 July. Hills and the local horizon change what you see.
When is there midnight sun or polar night?
For the cities with a weather page on this site north of 59°: the dates in 2026 when the sun stays above the horizon all day (midnight sun) or below it all day (polar night), and how long it is up on 21 June and 21 December. Polar night runs over New Year, so it shows as two ranges in one calendar year.1
| City | Latitude | Midnight sun | Polar night | Daylight, 21 June | Daylight, 21 December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tromsø | 69.65° N | 18 May to 24 July | 1 January to 14 January; 28 November to 31 December | 24 h | 0 |
| Kiruna | 67.83° N | 27 May to 15 July | 12 December to 31 December | 24 h | 0 |
| Bodø | 67.27° N | 31 May to 11 July | – | 24 h | 0 h 50 min |
| Rovaniemi | 66.56° N | 5 June to 6 July | – | 24 h | 2 h 10 min |
| Akureyri | 65.69° N | – | – | 23 h 30 min | 3 h 5 min |
| Luleå | 65.54° N | – | – | 23 h | 3 h 10 min |
| Reykjavik | 64.13° N | – | – | 21 h 10 min | 4 h 10 min |
| Östersund | 63.20° N | – | – | 20 h 25 min | 4 h 35 min |
| Jyväskylä | 62.40° N | – | – | 20 h | 5 h |
| Lahti | 60.96° N | – | – | 19 h 15 min | 5 h 35 min |
| Bergen | 60.38° N | – | – | 19 h | 5 h 45 min |
| Helsinki | 60.17° N | – | – | 18 h 55 min | 5 h 50 min |
| Oslo | 59.94° N | – | – | 18 h 50 min | 5 h 55 min |
| Uppsala | 59.85° N | – | – | 18 h 50 min | 5 h 55 min |
| Tallinn | 59.40° N | – | – | 18 h 40 min | 6 h 5 min |
| Stockholm | 59.34° N | – | – | 18 h 40 min | 6 h 5 min |
Our calculation at each weather station's position, by the method of the NOAA Solar Calculator, counting the sun as up when its centre is less than 0.833° below the horizon (allowing for refraction and the size of the sun), the same calculation as on each city's weather page, so a range can be a day out against other calculators. Hills and the horizon around you change what you see.
For month-by-month daylight, open each city's weather page; for golden hour, golden hour by place.
Key takeaways
- Northernmost city here: Tromsø.
- Dates are calculated, not observed, and can be a day out.
- What we would skip: planning a midnight-sun trip on the first or last date of a range.
Sources
Calculated with the NOAA Solar Calculator equations. See how we research.
- Daylight: our calculation of the time from sunrise to sunset on the 15th of each month of 2026 at the weather station's location, by the method of the NOAA Solar Calculator (NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, “Solar Calculation Details”, based on Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms, allowing 0.833° for refraction and the size of the sun). Read it. Checked 22 September 2026. NOAA notes that calculated times can differ from what is observed.
Our own calculation; no source data is changed.