Sweden heads into darker days with Father’s Day and winter preparations

Sweden celebrates Father’s Day on the second Sunday in November, rather than in June as in the US and UK. Breakfast in bed, cards and fika (the Swedish coffee break, a social institution) are among the ways families mark it. Nearly half of Swedes planned to mark Father’s Day in 2025 and that gives an indication that Father's day is widely celebrated in Sweden, and about one in three planned to celebrate by spending time together, according to the Swedish Trade Federation, Svensk Handel.

Höstmys, or in english autumn cosiness, describes lighting candles, baking and putting flannel sheets on the bed as autumn gives way to winter. It means less hours of daylight sun and preparing for winter darkness.

The clocks went back on 25 October starting winter time, making evenings dark an hour earlier by the clock. Motorists’ organisation M Sverige recommends planning the tyre change ahead of winter: passenger cars need winter tyres from 1 December to 31 March when roads are wintry. Studded tyres are already permitted.