[NegatioN]

What gets most foreigners is usually the darkness in the winter, and not the temperature fwiw.

It's hard to describe, but many people end up quite depressed.

[Broken_Hippo]

I'd just like to add:

I'm an immigrant in Norway. The darkness is enough of an issue that told us know about this in the state-funded language classes and made sure we knew help was available. I'm in Trondheim, so December is full of 4.5 hours of poor sunlight each day.

If there were something else that really gets folks, it is that Norway's people are rather reserved, to a point, and it really makes some folks lonely. This combined with the dark winters really causes some folks to struggle.

Everyone gets used to the weather and quickly learns how to dress properly enough.

[grugagag]

How are you faring so far? Can you join some groups of less reserved/more gregarious immigrants and carry on together?

[dev1ycan]

I know about this from living in Lima (Peru), the weather due to our geological position is always temperate, goes from min temps of 11 degrees to like 32 in summer (top), usually around ~18/19 degrees up to like 23 throughout most of the year.

You'd think climate is great, but it's ALWAYS "foggy", you can't see a clear blue sky like in the inner regions of the country such as Cusco, it depresses you, I can't imagine it being even darker.

It's why I simply can't believe nordic "stories" about being the happiest place, I simply can't believe with all the money in the world you'd be happier than at a tropical beach with half of that money.

[331c8c71]

> you'd be happier than at a tropical beach with half of that money.

Waaay too warm and humid. And no seasons. Thanks, but no thanks.

My ideal climate is proper 4 seasons with sub-zero and snowy winters. I am pretty sure I am not the only one.

[konschubert]

Living in northernmost Germany, I can confirm.

It’s not the cold or the endless weeks of rain.

It’s the days that barely feel like daylight.

[mattpallissard]

Living in Alaska I struggle more with the endless daylight than the short dark days. It messes with my sleep too much.

[grugagag]

Have locals adapted to this or they’re generally more depressive over the winter months?

[foobarian]

It's actually surprising how north the famous EU countries are. Already south France and Italy are about the same latitude as New England; Norway must be like Alaska as far as daylight goes. If it weren't for the warm Atlantic current the place would be a glacier.

[jackcosgrove]

In the northern hemisphere the prevailing winds come from the west, which is why west coasts are more moderate than east coasts. Winds coming from the ocean are more moderate than winds coming from the interior of a continent.

This is why New York is on the same latitude as Lisbon yet is much colder. Same for Tokyo and San Francisco.

Western Europe is about as far north as people can live in large numbers.

[input_sh]

The example that blew my mind once and I've been repeating it since: New York is as north as Madrid. Like, almost exactly, 0.3 degrees difference (or 20 miles, or 33 kilometres).

[NLips]

The entirety of Great Britain is farther north than the entirety of the contiguous 48 USA states.

[snowpid]

The south of Alaska starts in Northern Germany.

[mnsc]

Living in Northern Sweden with "midnight sun", what gets me the most the few times I've been approaching the equator is warm nights that are pitch dark. So strange! And then I remember that this is the experience of the majority of the world. :D