Compare daylight hours with cities in Denmark and around the world. See who gets the most and least daylight today.
Line cities up next to each other and see who gets the most and least daylight today. It turns an abstract difference into something concrete: that Edinburgh gets an hour more light than London at midsummer is one number, but it only lands once the two sit in the same table.
The dominant factor is latitude. The further from the equator, the wider day length swings over the year. At the equator the day stays close to 12 hours all year round. In the UK it runs from under 8 hours in December to more than 16 in June. North of the Arctic Circle sunrise and sunset disappear altogether for part of the year, giving midnight sun in summer and polar night in winter.
Even within one country the difference is measurable. On 21 June London gets about 16 hours 38 minutes of daylight while Edinburgh, 530 km north, gets about 17 hours 37 minutes — close to an hour apart. In December the picture reverses and the southern cities have the longer days.
Two cities on the same latitude get practically the same day length no matter how far apart they are east to west. What differs is the clock: the whole timezone shares one time while the sun follows longitude. Solar noon — the moment the sun is highest — therefore falls about 63 minutes after 12 o'clock in London in June, and about 157 minutes after in Vigo in western Spain, which shares its timezone with Central Europe.
It also explains why you can fly three hours west without day length changing much — but fly two hours north and get a completely different evening.
How many daylight hours there are on any given day is determined almost entirely by two things: your latitude and the time of year. Everything else — the weather, your timezone, daylight saving time — affects what your clock says, but not the actual amount of sunlight. The sun follows the same path regardless.
Near the equator, daylight is remarkably stable: close to 12 hours every day of the year. Move toward the poles and the swings become increasingly dramatic — until, above the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, there are days with no darkness at all, and days with no daylight at all.
| Month | Tromsø, Norway (70°N) | London, UK (51°N) | Singapore (1°N) | Sydney, Australia (34°S) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1 h 55 min | 8 h 22 min | 12 h 05 min | 14 h 22 min |
| February | 5 h 25 min | 9 h 50 min | 12 h 10 min | 13 h 20 min |
| March | 10 h 02 min | 11 h 35 min | 12 h 12 min | 12 h 05 min |
| April | 15 h 10 min | 13 h 25 min | 12 h 13 min | 10 h 54 min |
| May | 20 h 10 min | 15 h 18 min | 12 h 14 min | 9 h 57 min |
| June | 24 h 00 min * | 16 h 38 min | 12 h 12 min | 9 h 53 min |
| July | 24 h 00 min * | 16 h 25 min | 12 h 11 min | 10 h 07 min |
| August | 18 h 30 min | 14 h 51 min | 12 h 13 min | 11 h 08 min |
| September | 13 h 15 min | 12 h 42 min | 12 h 12 min | 12 h 12 min |
| October | 8 h 05 min | 10 h 50 min | 12 h 09 min | 13 h 18 min |
| November | 3 h 05 min | 9 h 05 min | 12 h 06 min | 14 h 15 min |
| December | 0 h 00 min ** | 7 h 55 min | 12 h 03 min | 14 h 25 min |
* Midnight sun — the sun does not set. ** Polar night — the sun does not rise. Values are approximate mid-month averages.
Tromsø (70°N) shows the most extreme variation: from complete polar darkness in December to unbroken midnight sun in June and July. The annual swing is roughly 22 hours — from 0 to 24. This is life close to the Arctic Circle, where seasons are defined by light as much as by temperature.
London (51°N) has a more moderate but still significant swing of about 8 hours 45 minutes between its shortest day (7h 53m) and its longest (16h 38m). For most of Western and Central Europe, this pattern feels familiar.
Singapore (1°N) barely moves — a maximum swing of about 11 minutes across the year. Near the equator, the sun rises and sets at almost exactly the same time every day. The small variation that exists is due to the equinoxes and solstices still tilting the sun's path by a fraction.
Sydney (34°S) has a similar swing to London, but the seasons are reversed: long days in December, short days in June. The Southern Hemisphere follows the same physics but out of phase by six months.
Earth's axis is tilted at 23.4° relative to its orbital plane. As Earth orbits the sun over the course of a year, this tilt causes each hemisphere to alternately lean toward and then away from the sun. When your hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, the sun rises earlier, sets later, and climbs higher in the sky — giving you more hours of daylight and more intense sunlight. When tilted away, the opposite occurs.
The equator always sits roughly perpendicular to the sun's rays, which is why equatorial regions have nearly constant day length. The poles are where the tilt has its most extreme effect — pointing directly toward the sun in summer and directly away in winter.
Use the tool on the homepage to get the exact number of daylight hours for your specific location, today and on any date you choose.
The most northerly. On 21 June Edinburgh gets about 17 hours 37 minutes of daylight while London gets about 16 hours 38 minutes. In winter the picture reverses and the southern cities have the longer days.
Because day length is set by the Sun's height above the horizon, which depends only on latitude and the date. Longitude shifts the clock times of sunrise and sunset, but not the number of daylight hours.
Because the whole timezone shares one clock while the sun follows longitude. Solar noon falls about 63 minutes after 12 o'clock in London in June, and about 157 minutes after in Vigo in western Spain.