Inside the place in Europe where the sun doesn’t set for FOUR MONTHS… with incredible drone footage showing sunlight at every hour of the night
- Norway experiences a natural phenomenon that’s known as the ‘midnight sun’
- One traveller’s video of 24-hour sunlight in the Lofoten Islands has gone viral
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Days never end in this European country – at least for part of the year.
In Norway, the sun doesn’t set in parts of the country during the summer months, leaving its landscapes bathed in sunlight 24 hours a day.
It’s a natural phenomenon known as the ‘midnight sun’ that occurs in places south of the Antarctic Circle and north of the Arctic Circle. The Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard experiences it for the longest stretch each year – here, the doesn’t set between April 20 and August 22.
Incredible drone footage captured by British travel photographer George Cooper shows this fascinating phenomenon playing out across Norway’s stunning Lofoten Islands.
In the footage – which has gone viral on Instagram with more than 9.1million likes – the islands can be seen illuminated by sunlight at all hours of the night, from 11pm to 3am.
In Norway, the sun doesn’t set in parts of the country during the summer months, leaving its landscapes bathed in sunlight for 24 hours a day. Above is the midnight sun in the Lofoten Islands
The 24-hour sunlight is a natural phenomenon known as the ‘midnight sun’ that occurs in places south of the Antarctic Circle and north of the Arctic Circle. Incredible drone footage captured by travel photographer George Cooper shows this fascinating phenomenon playing out across the landscapes of Norway’s Lofoten Islands
Introducing the video to his followers, George wrote: ‘Twenty-four hours of daylight is truly a mind-frying experience. Seeing the sun never quite go dip below the horizon is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.’
To date, the clip has received more than 44,000 comments, with Instagram user ‘Justcallm3marko’ remarking: ‘Hope everyone has blackout curtains.’
Another user, ‘Sanssufiyan’, described the sunlight-filled setting as ‘heaven on earth’.
The Lofoten Islands can be seen at all hours of the night, from 11pm to 2am, in George Cooper’s viral video. It has earned more than 9.1million likes on Instagram to date
Commenting on the video, George says: ‘Twenty-four hours of daylight is truly a mind-frying experience. Seeing the sun never quite go dip below the horizon is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen’
Above is the midnight sun over Troms og Finnmark county in the north of Norway
How does the midnight sun work? Visit Norway explains: ‘The earth is rotating at a tilted axis relative to the sun, and during the summer months, the North Pole is angled towards our star.
‘That’s why, for several weeks, the sun never sets above the Arctic Circle.’
The tourist board describes the colours of this sunlight as ‘like a prolonged sunset and sunrise all at once’ with ‘reddish yellow light’.
Svalbard and the Lofoten Islands aren’t the only spots where this can be experienced – the midnight sun also occurs in the city of Bodo, the North Cape at the tip of the country and in the city of in Tromso, among other places.
The midnight sun occurs for the longest period in the archipelago of Svalbard (pictured), where the doesn’t set between April 20 and August 22 of each year
Above is the midnight sun occurring in Longyearbyen, a small town on Spitsbergen Island in the Svalbard archipelago
There are plenty of activities that can be enjoyed at all hours of the night when this phenomenon occurs – travellers can go midnight golfing, cycling, river paddling, set off on a whale watching expedition or give nighttime sea kayaking a try. Visit Norway also recommends heading to Svalbard to do a guided midnight hike on a glacier.
Cruise lines such as Hurtigruten or Havila offer ‘midnight sun cruises’, allowing passengers to take in views of this seemingly neverending sunlight along the Norwegian coast.
Norway isn’t the only destination where you can witness the ‘midnight sun’ – it also occurs in places such as Alaska, Greenland and Canada.
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Norway is one of the best places in the world to witness aurora borealis. Above are the Northern Lights over Hamnoy in Norway’s Nordland county
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