Sunrise and sunset in Iceland

Average length of day in Reykjavík

      sunshine duration       twilight phase

Sunrise and sunset in the most important cities of Iceland

The cities are ordered by their geographic position from east to west, so in an approximate direction of the sun's course. Since the orbit around the sun is elliptical, sunrise or sunset never happen on a whole longitude at the same time. All data given for May 31st., localtime in Iceland

Long days in summer - short in winter

With its location in the far northwest of Europe, the days are long in summer and short in winter. With up to about 21:20 hours there are the longest days in June. In the northern coastal regions even a little longer, so that it hardly gets really dark there. The summer solstice always takes place around June 21. The sun then disappears briefly behind the horizon, only to rise again a few hours later. Not the midnight sun, but at least its cone of light can be seen all over the country.

Accordingly, the longest dark nights are at the winter solstice around December 21. Then the night in Reykjavík lasts almost 20 hours and the days begin about 9 hours later than here in Central Europe. For tourists, this time is quite fascinating, but it can also quickly become depressing when, in addition to the lower temperatures, it only gets light after 11 a.m. and the sun also sets again at 3:30 p.m. In addition, the twilight phase in spring and autumn is very short and the night is then really deep black. True Icelanders have long since become accustomed to this.

The equinox takes place approximately on March 20 and September 23. Then day and night are actually the same length. This is the case all over the world, but especially in the countries near the poles it has a major impact on daily life and is sometimes celebrated vigorously. Because in March the time of the bright summer begins now and the days become faster and longer bright.

Within Europe, only the northern regions of Norway, Sweden and Finland are further north. There, the Arctic Circle on the mainland is also easier to reach and the continuously bright midsummer nights are duly enjoyed by tourists and locals.

Sunrise and sunset by month (Reykjavík)

Duration of the sunset

The distance from the equator and the path of the sun determines not only the time of sunrise and sunset. The farther a country is from the equator, the more oblique the sun's path is to the horizon, causing sunset to last for a different duration. Reykjavík lies on the 64th degree of northern latitude and is therefore very far away from the equator. While a sunset near the equator lasts only about 20 minutes, in Iceland, this period averages 32 minutes. In June, it's about -6 minutes in Reykjavík, while in December it's 71 minutes.

International cities for comparison