Climate in Lofoten
Lofoten is located north of the Arctic Circle, on a par with the vast ice masses of Greenland and the treeless tundra of Canada. Nevertheless, Lofoten has a climate that corresponds to a location much further south in Europe.
The reason why the whole area, and for that matter the whole of Norway, is not covered in ice is, of course, the Gulf Stream, which brings with it warm water masses and a mild climate. In fact, Lofoten is one of the warmest areas in Norway in terms of average temperature.
Meteorologists define winter as the time when the daytime temperature is below freezing. According to this definition, Røst and Skomvær actually have no winter at all. Værøy has only 26 winter days, Reine 45, Eggum 61 and Svolvær 98.
Summer is defined as the time when the daytime temperature is above ten degrees Celsius. According to this definition, Røst has 73 summer days. The further east we go, the milder it gets, e.g. Svolvær has e.g. has almost 100 summer days.
In comparison, Oslo has a winter and summer length of 120 and 134 days respectively.
