Where would we be without sunshine? Well, first off, we’d probably have poor moods all the time, terrible immune systems, and never get enough sleep. Wait a minute. That already sounds a lot like living in the UK. While the sun is a miracle that supports all life on this planet, we seriously don’t get enough of it on these British Isles.
It’s obvious why our ancient ancestors treated the big fiery ball in the sky as a god. Every time we get a glimmer of sunshine in this country, we Brits flock to the closest pub gardens, al fresco restaurants, and sandy beaches. But how often does that happen? Not very much, according to the latest data on the world’s sunniest countries.
The UK receives the fifth “least annual sunshine hours” in the world. On average, the combined efforts of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland only get 1,530 sunshine hours a year. That works out to about 4.19 hours a day. Blimey. No wonder everyone’s so miserable here all the time.
Unsurprisingly, the worst month in the UK is December, when there are only 49 hours of sunshine, while May is absolutely glorious with 193.5 hours of sunshineas is close behind it July (192). We’re definitely through the worst months, too. With January (58) and February (78.5) out of the way, expect much brighter days ahead in March (114) and April (157).
Still, this is nothing compared to Egypt, where the people experience 3756.4 hours of sunshine a year. In February alone, there were 257.5 hours of sunshine, and that’s one of its more gloomy months. Seven out of the top 10 of the sunniest countries can be found in Africa, while eight out of the bottom 10 were in Europe.
Where in the world is less sunny than the UK?
Here’s something to smile about! Ireland gets less sunshine than the UK. It’s the fourth least sunny country, receiving only 1,453 hours of sunshine annually. That’s 77 hours less than us, and while its sunniest month (also May) experiences 195 hours of sunshine and gloomiest (in December) has 53, the UK has a much sunnier summer overall.
Third on the list is Saint Pierre and Miquelon (“a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France” off the coast of Canada) with 1,427.3 hours of sunshine a year; while second went to Iceland with 1,320 hours – although in May it trumps the UK and Ireland with 201 hours of sunshine.
The least sunny country in the world is the Faroe Islands. If you don’t where/what that is, it’s an archipelago between Iceland and Scotland, and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, that only gets 840 hours of sunshine a year. In the whole of December, it gets 6 hours of sunshine, while in June, it gets 125. Bleak.
The sunniest countries in the world:
- Egypt
- Namibia
- Sudan
- United Arab Emirates
- Oman
- Botswana
- Eritrea
- Chad
- Mauritania
- Cyprus
The least sunny countries in the world:
- Faroe Islands
- Iceland
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Ireland
- United Kingdom
- Belgium
- Equatorial Guinea
- Switzerland
- Poland
- Lithuania
To see the data, head here.
