Faroe Islands weather in December — what to expect

December is the dark bottom of the Faroese year. Daylight drops to around 5.5 hours, the sun barely clears the hills even at midday, and this is the cloudiest, stormiest stretch of the calendar. It's not a month most people should build a first trip around — and this page will tell you that straight rather than talk you into it. What it does offer is real: Faroese Christmas atmosphere, dramatic weather, and a version of the islands almost no tourist ever sees.

What the weather actually feels like

Average highs sit around 5°C, lows around 1°C — not brutally cold, but the wind makes it feel worse than the number suggests. Wind averages 30 km/h for the month, and that's just the average; storm fronts push well past it. Rain (or sleet, or both in the same afternoon) falls on roughly 23 of December's 31 days, totalling around 115mm. Sunshine hours for the whole month add up to about 10 — that's not a typo, that's the entire month's worth of clear sky. UV index is 0. Sunscreen stays in the drawer.

Sea temperature holds around 7°C, which tells you nothing about swimming and everything about how mild the ocean keeps the air compared to inland Scandinavia at the same latitude. The Faroes don't get Arctic cold. They get grey, wet, and windy instead.

Daylight that barely qualifies as a day

Around the winter solstice on December 21, the sun rises somewhere near 9:40 AM and sets by about 3:15 PM — a working day's worth of light, if that. On overcast days, which is most of them, it never really gets bright. The sun stays low on the horizon even at noon, throwing long shadows and flat grey light across the hillsides.

This isn't a month for chasing golden hour on a schedule — there isn't much of one to chase, and cloud cover swallows most of what light there is. When a clear day does happen, the low sun angle gives a soft, warm light for hours at a stretch, because the sun never climbs high enough to go harsh. It's a narrow window, but it's a real one.

Faroese Christmas

December is when the islands turn inward. Tórshavn strings up lights along the harbour and old town, and the town has a quiet, small-scale festive feel rather than a big commercial one. Faroese Christmas traditions lean heavily on home and family — this is a season for visiting relatives, not for organised events aimed at tourists. If you're here, you're seeing daily life during the quietest, most local time of the Faroese year, which has its own appeal if that's what you're after.

Don't expect markets, parades, or a tourist infrastructure built around the holiday. Expect a village-quiet Tórshavn, lit windows, and a slower pace than any other month.

Storms, and why you need slack in your plans

December has the highest storm frequency of the year alongside January. Fronts roll in off the North Atlantic with little warning, and when they do, they affect everything: helicopter flights get grounded, ferries get cancelled or delayed, and roads over exposed passes can close temporarily. This is the single most important thing to understand about visiting in December — build at least one full spare day into any itinerary that depends on inter-island transport, and check current schedules constantly rather than trusting a booking made weeks out.

Read the bad weather guide before you book anything. It's not optional reading for a December trip — it's the difference between a trip that goes fine and one where you're stuck on the wrong island.

Snow that doesn't stick around

Snow falls in December, but at sea level it rarely settles for long — a dusting one morning can be gone by afternoon, back the next day, gone again. Higher ground holds it longer and looks the part, but down in the villages and along the coast roads, December's snow is more visual event than lasting landscape. Don't plan around snow being on the ground when you arrive; plan around it being possible and pretty when it happens.

Aurora — possible, not likely

The nights are long enough and dark enough for the Northern Lights, and December sits inside proper aurora season. The catch is cloud cover — December is the cloudiest month of the year, so the number of nights with both darkness and clear sky is genuinely small. If you get one, treat it as a bonus, not the reason you booked the trip. Watch the forecast, get away from Tórshavn's lights, and be ready to go out at short notice on the rare clear night.

Should you actually visit in December?

Honestly, for most travellers, no — not as a primary trip. Hiking trails are wet, exposed ridges are dangerous in December's wind, puffins and most seabirds are long gone, and the short daylight window limits how much you can realistically do in a day. If your priority list is hiking, wildlife, and long outdoor days, come back in summer.

But if you want atmosphere over activity — quiet villages, dramatic seas, Faroese Christmas, and the chance of a clear-night aurora — December delivers something the summer months can't. Just come with the right expectations and a flexible schedule.

What to pack

Full list in the what to pack guide. December essentials:

• A proper waterproof, windproof shell — the wind at 30 km/h average will find every gap in a cheap jacket
• Warm base and mid layers — 5°C with constant wind and wet air is colder than it sounds
• Waterproof boots with good grip — icy patches and wet stone underfoot
• A headtorch — useful for the long dark stretch either side of the short daylight window
• Backup days built into your itinerary — non-negotiable given how often weather disrupts transport

What people actually say about December

The short daylight surprises people even when they've read the numbers — 5.5 hours sounds manageable until you're watching the light fade by mid-afternoon and realise the "day" is basically over. Visitors who come expecting a stripped-down winter break report being won over by the atmosphere: empty roads, lit-up villages, and a sense of having the islands to yourself that summer never offers.

The travel disruption is the recurring complaint, and it's not exaggerated. People who book tight island-hopping itineraries without slack days end up stuck, rebooking flights, or missing a leg entirely. The ones who plan loosely and check conditions daily have a much better time of it.

Cold isn't the issue people expect it to be — 5°C with layers is manageable. Wind and wet together are what actually wear people down over a few days.

Related guides

• Bad weather in the Faroe Islands — read this before booking a December trip
• What to pack — the complete gear list
• Getting around — car rental, ferries, and buses
• Best time to visit — month-by-month comparison