By Hammad Kahlun
International News Correspondent
Scandinavian News Finland
The winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, brings with it the promise of longer and brighter days ahead.
This year, the solstice occurs on Sunday, 21 December, at 5:02pm, when the sun reaches its lowest point in the sky and remains above the horizon for the shortest time.
The timing of the solstice varies slightly each year, with the next winter solstice expected at 10:50pm on 21 December 2026.
Daylight begins to increase at different times depending on location. In southern Finland, sunset starts getting later a few days before the solstice, while sunrise continues to occur later until the end of December.
On 28 December, sunrise is expected at 9:25am in Helsinki and 11:04am in Rovaniemi. Further north, the sun remains below the horizon until January.
In Oulu, daylight is already increasing gradually, with sunset moving from 2:03pm on Sunday to 2:16pm by New Year’s Eve. The amount of light grows slowly, by just a few minutes each day.
Brighter times are clearly ahead. In Tampere, sunset is expected to reach 5:26pm in about two months, compared to around 3pm currently.
Meanwhile, residents of Turku already enjoy slightly longer daylight, receiving around 20 minutes more light than Helsinki, despite being slightly further north.
In Finland’s northernmost municipality, Utsjoki, the sun set on 25 November and will not rise again until 16 January, marking the longest polar night in the country.
Seasonal light changes in Finland have been closely followed before, as reported by Scandinavian News Finland.
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