Today is the shortest day of the year. This morning the sun does not rise until 8:46 am and sets again at 4:29 pm. It could be even worse: in the Norwegian Hammerfest the sun does not rise at all today. But we trade the dark days before Christmas from the new year for more and more daylight.
The month of December has the shortest daylight periods. If you look out the window during the morning rush hour, it is pitch black outside. The sun is lowest above the horizon this afternoon. This is because the sun is then perpendicular to the Tropic of Capricorn, in the southern hemisphere. This means that the sun is farthest from us at that moment. This phenomenon is also called the winter solstice.
No white Christmas
On December 21, the shortest day of the year, astronomical winter also begins. However, ‘the astronomical winter is anything but wintery’, according to Weeronline.nl. The weather is mild for this time of year. In the dark days leading up to Christmas, the weather is ‘autumn-like’. Today it will be between 7 and 10 degrees. In the morning there is mostly fog and low clouds. Where it remains dry in most places in the morning, a few showers will cross the country in the afternoon. In the evening it will continue to rain in some places.
Temperatures continue to fluctuate between 9 and 12 degrees in the week before Christmas. There is a lot of rain. There are also low clouds in some places in the country and there is fog in places. Unfortunately, this means that no ice fun on natural ice is possible for skating enthusiasts, as was possible for a short while last weekend. And there is no question of a white Christmas either.
More and more daylight after today
After the start of the astronomical winter, the days get longer again. According to Weeronline.nl, we do not notice this immediately, because it will remain dark a little longer in the morning. The latest sunrise is recorded on December 30. Only in the first week of January does the sun slowly rise a bit earlier. Then there will be about half a minute of sunlight every day.
Where is the least daylight today?
In Hammerfest, Norway, there is no daylight at all today. In Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, the sun rises at 11:30 am today and the sun sets at 3:30 pm.
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