Darkness begone! Lights ward off Nordic winter blues

Stockholm

EACH year, Old Man Winter drops his curtain of darkness over the Nordic countries, not lifting it again until April when spring bathes the region in sunlight and nature comes back to life.

At this time of year, when night falls as early as 2pm (1300 GMT) and lasts until about 9am (0800 GMT) in Oslo, Helsinki and Stockholm, people ward off the gloom by lighting up their lives in as many ways as they can. Even daytime brings only a slightly lighter shade of grey during the darkest weeks before the winter solstice in December, when skies are often overcast in the three capitals. Daylight is even more elusive farther north. In the Swedish mining town of Kiruna above the Arctic Circle, the sun never rises around the winter solstice.