UV Index Norway
According to the WHO, the average daily ambient ultraviolet radiation in Norway is 1,439 J/m² (joules per square metre).
UV radiation overview
Norway stretches from roughly 57.9°N at Lindesnes to 71.2°N at the North Cape on the mainland, with the Svalbard archipelago reaching about 80°N. This extreme high-latitude position keeps the solar elevation low for most of the year, so the country sits firmly within the lowest tier of global ambient ultraviolet exposure. Even at the summer solstice, the noon sun in Oslo barely exceeds 53° above the horizon, and locations north of the Arctic Circle never see the sun climb much above 40°, holding peak clear-sky UV indices well below those of southern Europe.
A distinctive feature of Norway is the national UV monitoring network run by the Direktoratet for strålevern og atomsikkerhet (DSA, formerly NRPA), which operates calibrated GUV radiometers in Oslo, Bergen, Østerås, Trondheim, Andøya and Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard, with Met Norway and Yr distributing the resulting forecasts. North of the Arctic Circle the polar night suppresses UV to zero for weeks each winter, while the midnight sun spreads summer UV exposure across all 24 hours, and lingering spring snow cover above the Arctic Circle can roughly double effective UV through albedo enhancement.
Norway sits at #190 of 191 in the WHO's global ambient-UV ranking with about 1,439 J/m² of average daily UV, around the 1st percentile worldwide.
UV Radiation in Norway
This ranks 190 out of 191 countries measured worldwide — where 1 receives the most UV radiation.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory (1997–2003)
