Vitamin D from sunlight in Bergen
Bergen sits at 60.39°N, 20 m above sea level. Between 25 August and 30 April the midday sun never climbs high enough for your skin to make vitamin D at all — 249 days of the year.
How long do you need outside?
Month by month in Bergen
At solar noon, for skin type III with arms and legs exposed.
| Month | Sun height | UV index | 1000 IU in | Burns after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.5° | 0.1 | no synthesis | 2574 min |
| February | 17.0° | 0.4 | no synthesis | 529 min |
| March | 27.6° | 1.3 | no synthesis | 183 min |
| April | 39.5° | 2.7 | no synthesis | 88 min |
| May | 48.5° | 4.0 | 30 min | 59 min |
| June | 52.9° | 4.7 | 24 min | 49 min |
| July | 51.1° | 4.7 | 24 min | 50 min |
| August | 43.6° | 3.7 | 31 min | 63 min |
| September | 32.5° | 2.2 | no synthesis | 108 min |
| October | 21.0° | 0.8 | no synthesis | 279 min |
| November | 11.1° | 0.2 | no synthesis | 1266 min |
| December | 6.3° | 0.0 | no synthesis | 5000 min |
When during the day?
Vitamin D-effective UV by month and hour, in Europe/Oslo local time (daylight saving included). Darker cells mean faster synthesis.
| Month | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | ||||||||||||||||||
| Feb | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mar | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Apr | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| May | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Jun | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||||||
| Jul | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||||||
| Aug | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||
| Sep | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Oct | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nov | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dec |
none strongest
Best time in June: around 13:30 local time.
How much skin matters more than how much time
In June, at solar noon, for skin type III:
| Exposed | Body surface | 1000 IU in | 30 minutes gives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Face and hands | 5% | not reachable | 250 IU |
| Face, hands and forearms | 10% | 60 min | 500 IU |
| Face, hands, arms and legs | 25% | 24 min | 1,250 IU |
| Swimwear | 80% | 7 min | 4,001 IU |
Exposing more skin gets you there faster, but it also burns faster. See how long before you burn in Bergen →
Note the first row. With only face and hands exposed, 1000 IU is not reachable at any duration: vitamin D synthesis saturates, so the previtamin D3 in your skin converts to inactive products as fast as it forms. Past that ceiling, extra time adds sunburn risk and no more vitamin D. Exposing more skin briefly beats exposing less skin for longer.
Other cities in Norway
Assumptions
- Clear sky. Every figure is an upper bound. Cloud can cut UVB by more than half, and these numbers do not model it.
- Direct exposure. Glass blocks UVB almost completely, so sunlight through a window produces no vitamin D. Sunscreen and clothing block it too.
- A healthy adult. Age, body composition, medication and existing vitamin D status all change the real answer.
- Ozone is modelled, not measured. Column ozone comes from a smooth climatology, so day-to-day variation is not captured.