Request made for 26-hour-days to replace 24-hour-days in European region

Sometimes a day feels like a week. You’re sat at your desk at 3pm in the afternoon but it feels like you’ve been there for 11 hours.

And while you might not be able to think of anything worse than it getting any longer, one region of a European country wants to scrap 24-hour-days in favour of 26-hour ones.

The region has asked the European Commission to give it permission to establish a new time zone with these whopping 26-hour days.

The remote town wants its people to, well, simply just have more time.

Would you want longer days?(Getty stock image)

A press release said the spot 'requires an extension of the day from 24 to 26 hours' because of the 'special feeling of peace and tranquility that allows a different concept of time'.

OK, then.

This pretty bizarre plan was put forward by the mayor of the remote town of Vadso in Norway, Wenche Pederson.

The European Commission has confirmed it's received this time-bending request as the mayor says the 26-hour day would enable people to take part in ‘activities such as fishing, hunting, learning new languages, or simply being with loved ones’.

“Through our ‘MOREtime’ project, we aim to celebrate and promote this unique way of life,” the Finnmark County town said in its letter.

The mayor told Politico: “What is the good thing about living here? It’s the time.”

So, she wants to make more of it...?

“We don’t run after the buses or after the trains or have to take a long time to travel to work and so on,” she added. “We are very satisfied with living in a part of Norway where we have more time to be with our friends, with our family and together.”

Although, Pederson did admit to being unsure of just how exactly this unique time zone would work.

The northern area of Norway wants more time. (Getty stock image)

“We haven’t thought a lot about that,” she said. “The clock will go from 12 to 13… and we have to see how this will go. I don’t think they’re going to say yes so we haven’t thought about all the details.”

The mayor hopes that with the extended days, more people will be inspired to move to Vadso which she added is ‘more important than ever’ in light of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The remote town in the Arctic Circle is near to the Russian border.

It’s a bid of a muddle over who would and if they would grant the region’s request for the separate timezone but either way, Pederson hopes this whole thing at least draws attention to the uniqueness of the northern area of Norway.

So if you were thinking this sounded like a marketing stunt to promote the region... you're probably right.

“In this respect we are one of the richest regions in Europe because […] we have more time,” Pedersen added. Well, fair enough.

Topics: Travel, World News, Weird

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_