Earliest Winter Sunsets in Major Cities (and Why Vancouver’s Moved an Hour Later)
The earliest sunset of the year comes in early to mid December, and in some big cities it’s startlingly early. Stockholm’s sun sets at 2:49 PM, Oslo’s and Helsinki’s at 3:14 PM and London’s at 3:53 PM. But in 2026, a few North American cities are getting much later sunsets than usual: Vancouver’s earliest sunset is now 5:15 PM instead of 4:15 PM, because British Columbia no longer turns its clocks back.
Key facts
- The earliest sunset of the year comes about two weeks before the winter solstice, not on the shortest day.
- Among big cities, Stockholm has the earliest: 2:49 PM.
- Vancouver (5:15 PM), Calgary (5:31 PM), Edmonton (5:16 PM) and Winnipeg (5:29 PM) all get sunsets an hour later than last winter, and sunrises an hour later too.
Earliest sunset and latest sunrise, winter 2026–27
| City | Earliest sunset | Latest sunrise |
|---|---|---|
| Stockholm | 2:49 PM | 8:41 AM |
| Oslo | 3:14 PM | 9:16 AM |
| Helsinki | 3:14 PM | 9:22 AM |
| Reykjavík | 3:33 PM | 11:18 AM |
| Anchorage | 3:43 PM | 10:11 AM |
| London | 3:53 PM | 8:03 AM |
| Berlin | 3:54 PM | 8:15 AM |
| Moscow | 3:58 PM | 8:56 AM |
| Dublin | 4:08 PM | 8:37 AM |
| St. John’s | 4:11 PM | 7:46 AM |
| Montréal | 4:12 PM | 7:32 AM |
| Seattle | 4:19 PM | 7:55 AM |
| Chicago | 4:21 PM | 7:16 AM |
| New York | 4:29 PM | 7:18 AM |
| Amsterdam | 4:29 PM | 8:48 AM |
| Halifax | 4:35 PM | 7:49 AM |
| Denver | 4:36 PM | 7:19 AM |
| Toronto | 4:42 PM | 7:49 AM |
| Los Angeles | 4:44 PM | 6:57 AM |
| Beijing | 4:50 PM | 7:34 AM |
| Paris | 4:55 PM | 8:42 AM |
| Regina | 4:56 PM | 8:56 AM |
| Vancouver | 5:15 PM (was 4:15 PM) | 9:05 AM (was 8:05 AM) |
| Edmonton | 5:16 PM (was 4:16 PM) | 9:48 AM (was 8:48 AM) |
| Phoenix | 5:21 PM | 7:31 AM |
| Winnipeg | 5:29 PM (was 4:29 PM) | 9:24 AM (was 8:24 AM) |
| Calgary | 5:31 PM (was 4:31 PM) | 9:37 AM (was 8:37 AM) |
| Madrid | 5:49 PM | 8:36 AM |
Bold rows are the cities that stopped changing their clocks in 2026. “Was” shows the time they would have had on standard time.
Why Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg have later sunsets this winter
In 2026, British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba made their last clock change in March and will not “fall back” on November 1. They now stay on what used to be summer time all year. The sun hasn’t changed, but the clocks have: every sunrise and sunset is one hour later than it would have been.
That trade-off is the whole debate about daylight saving time. Later sunsets mean more daylight after work and school. Later sunrises mean darker mornings. In Edmonton, the sun won’t rise until about 9:48 AM in late December, and in Calgary not until 9:37 AM. Read more about where Canada and the US stand on daylight saving time.
Meanwhile, Seattle, which is just south of Vancouver, still falls back. So this winter, the sun sets at about 4:19 PM in Seattle and 5:15 PM in Vancouver, two cities only 190 km apart.
Why the earliest sunset isn’t on the shortest day
You might expect the earliest sunset on December 21, the shortest day. In fact, at mid-northern latitudes, the earliest sunset comes in early to mid December, and the latest sunrise in late December or early January. The cause is the Earth’s tilted axis and its elliptical orbit, which make solar noon drift later through December. The days are still getting shorter, but the whole day of sunlight is shifting later on the clock. The effect is strongest closer to the equator: in Los Angeles, the earliest sunset is in the first week of December, while sunrises keep getting later until early January.
Why some cities have such early sunsets
Two things decide how early the sun sets on the clock:
- Latitude: the further north, the shorter the winter day. Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki are near 60° north.
- Position in the time zone: cities on the eastern edge of their time zone get earlier sunrises and sunsets. Stockholm is in the eastern part of Central European Time, so its sun sets almost half an hour earlier than Oslo’s, even though the two cities are at almost the same latitude. Madrid is in the far west of Central European Time, which is why its sunset is the latest in our list, at 5:49 PM.
How we calculated this
We calculated sunrise and sunset for every day from mid-November 2026 to the end of January 2027 for each city’s coordinates, using the same astronomical formulas as our world clock, then found the earliest sunset and latest sunrise. Local times use the official IANA time zone database (version 2026e), which includes BC’s, Alberta’s and Manitoba’s new permanent time. The “was” times assume the old standard time, one hour earlier.
Frequently asked questions
What city has the earliest sunset?
Among major cities, Stockholm, at 2:49 PM in mid-December. Further north, in places like Tromsø in Norway or Utqiaġvik in Alaska, the sun doesn’t rise at all for weeks in winter.
When is the earliest sunset in Vancouver in 2026?
About 5:15 PM, around December 9. Last year it was about 4:15 PM, before BC stopped changing its clocks.
When is the latest sunrise in Calgary this winter?
About 9:37 AM, around Christmas.
When do the days start getting longer?
After the winter solstice on December 21. Evenings start getting lighter earlier, from mid-December.
See today’s sunrise and sunset for any city on our world clock, for example Vancouver, Calgary or London.
