Northern Lights Forecast for Hammerfest

Northern Lights in Hammerfest

Hammerfest is a town of about 8,000 people on the west shore of Kvaløya, an island in western Finnmark at almost 71°N. It was called the northernmost town in the world for some 200 years, until Honningsvåg, further north, took town status in 1996; it is still the northernmost with more than 5,000 residents. The polar night lasts from about 22 November to 20 January, and at this latitude the aurora is often high overhead rather than low in the north.

Salen above the center, and the glow from Melkøya

Hammerfest was the first town in Northern Europe with electric street lights, in 1891, and the center is still well lit. The gas plant on Melkøya, a small island just northwest of town, adds light across the water.

• Salen is the hill directly above the center. A zigzag path reaches the cairn and viewing platform at the top in about ten minutes. When it is icy, the longer route around the back of the hill takes about 40 minutes.
• Forsølfjellet is the pass on the road north to Forsøl, high above the houses and with little light. The bus to Forsøl stops at the top on request.
• Fuglenes is the point across the bay, about 20 minutes’ walk from the center, where the Meridian Column makes a foreground for photos.
• Storfjellet (328 m) is a winter hike from near the airport, with an open view in every direction.

The burning of Hammerfest and the Meridian Column

German forces evacuated Hammerfest and burned it when they retreated from Finnmark in 1944 and 1945. Only the 1937 funeral chapel survived, next to the church built in 1961. The Museum of Reconstruction (Gjenreisningsmuseet) covers the forced evacuation and the rebuilding.

The Meridian Column at Fuglenes, put up in 1854, marks the northern end of the Struve Geodetic Arc, a chain of survey points running about 2,820 km to the Black Sea, on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2005.

The Kvalsund Bridge road to Skaidi and Alta

When the coast is under cloud, the way out is inland over the Kvalsund Bridge. The Kvalsund valley beyond the bridge has few lights, and Skaidi, about 65 km away on the mainland, is flat, open country. The same road takes you to Alta, a little over two hours away, where many visitors fly in. The road is exposed to winter snowstorms, so allow extra time before a flight.

Hammerfest Airport, a few minutes’ drive from the center, has small Widerøe planes to Tromsø and other Finnmark towns, and strong winds sometimes disrupt flights. Hurtigruten coastal ships call every day in both directions.