Sweden's so far sun-poor December is not unique, but not particularly common either, according to Kjell Lund, meteorologist at SMHI. Stockholm stands out in particular. Until December 17, the capital had only received half an hour of sunlight, preliminary figures show.
Five years ago, in 2020, there were only four hours of sunshine in total during the whole of December in Stockholm. So far, only just over half the month has passed, so we'll probably get a little more, but Stockholm stands out again this year.
“Down in the valley”
In the rest of the country, it has also generally been a greyer and darker winter than usual. However, sunny weather is expected for the weekend.
Dryer air is coming in and it will probably be felt in almost all of Sweden, says Kjell Lund.
In southern Sweden there may still be some fog, but from Mälardalen and northwards it looks like it will be sunny and in northern Sweden, apart from the mountains, Sunday in particular looks like it will be very sunny.
Sunday also marks the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, which means that it will slowly but surely get a little brighter every day.
We are in the valley now. When it turns, on the 21st, not much happens in a week, but already on the 28th we get about ten minutes more daylight, says Kjell Lund.
No snow in the south
Then it gets faster and faster. By the end of January, the days are about 45 minutes longer each week, and by February, there is almost an hour more daylight per week.
And so you can say, "now we are moving towards brighter times," says Kjell Lund.
The downside of the high pressure that is now moving in is that there will be no snow either. Right now, the limit for bare ground is somewhere around Örnsköldsvik.
Basically all of Hälsingland is snow-free. The Medelpad and Ångermanland coasts are snow-free. There is a little snow in northernmost Dalarna, but only a few centimeters.
And in the absence of a Christmas miracle, it will likely remain that way.
Where the snow line is now, it will probably be there on Christmas Eve too, says Kjell Lund.
