London's Norwegian Christmas Tree: A Gift Every Year Since 1947
The short answer: Every year since 1947, Norway has sent London a Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square, in thanks for Britain's support in the Second World War. It is a Norway spruce, usually 50 to 60 years old and over 20 metres tall, chosen in the forests around Oslo. It is lit in early December, dressed in vertical strings of lights, and taken down for mulch just before Twelfth Night.
Of all the lights of London at Christmas, the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is the one with a story you can tell a child in a sentence: it is a thank-you present, sent every year. The story behind it is longer, and it starts in the war. Here is how the tree is chosen, how it gets here, why it looks the way it does, and how to see it.
A thank-you from Norway
The Mayor of London's own page puts it plainly. The people of Norway give the tree to the people of London in gratitude for Britain's support for Norway during the Second World War. The tradition has run every year since 1947.
A plaque at the foot of the tree gives the wording from the other side: the tree "is given by the city of Oslo as a token of Norwegian gratitude to the people of London for their assistance during the years 1940-45". London is not the only city to get one. Newcastle, for one, has a tree from Bergen outside its civic centre.
The tree before the tradition
The first Norwegian tree in the square came before the gift began. In 1942 a Norwegian commando, Mons Urangsvåg, arrived in London shortly before Christmas with two spruces, felled during a raid on the island of Stord. One was meant for the exiled Norwegian king. The other went up in the square, put there by British naval intelligence officers and Norwegian commandos after a dinner at the Savoy.
One of those officers was Commander Ian Fleming, who later wrote the James Bond novels. One family on a private lights walk came away with Fleming stories for a son who loved them, and it is one reason the tree is worth a stop and not just a glance.
🏛️ Did You Know: Norwegian foresters look after the chosen tree for months, even years, before it is cut, and call it “the queen of the forest”. Where the tree stands among the other displays is on the lights street by street.
How a spruce becomes London's tree
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Months or years ahead | Norwegian foresters choose a spruce near Oslo |
| November | Felled at a ceremony in Norway |
| After the felling | Shipped across the sea, then brought by lorry |
| In the square | Raised with a hydraulic crane and strung with lights |
| Early December | Lit at a ceremony; in 2025, on Thursday 4 December |
| Early January | Taken down just before Twelfth Night, chipped and composted |
The tree is felled in November at a ceremony attended by the Lord Mayor of Westminster, the British ambassador to Norway and the Mayor of Oslo. It crosses the sea by ship, then finishes the journey by lorry. A specialist rigging team raises it in the square with a hydraulic crane.
Why its lights hang straight down
If you expect a tree wrapped in spirals of colour, this one surprises you. It is decorated in the traditional Norwegian way, with vertical strings of lights running from top to bottom. The bulbs are energy-efficient. There are no baubles, and the effect is plain and tall.
Beside the dressed shopping streets it can look plain; that is the Norwegian style, and the point of it. It looks best after dark, from across the square, where you can see the whole height of it against the lit buildings.
The lighting, and when to see it
The tree is lit at a ceremony, traditionally on the first Thursday of December, led by the Lord Mayor of Westminster with a band and a choir. In 2025 it was Thursday 4 December, and the tree was 25 metres tall. The 2026 date is not announced yet.
Carol singers gather round the tree through December, many of them raising money for charity. In 2025 a torch-lit procession from St Martin-in-the-Fields, the church on the square, led a blessing of the Christmas crib on Sunday 7 December. Since 2009 the Poetry Society has hung new poems on banners round the base of the tree.
⚠️ Important: The lighting evening draws a crowd, and the square is packed. For a calm look, go on a weekday evening later in the month; the dark comes early, and the week-by-week times are on the best time to see the lights.
Photographing the tree
The tree stands beside Nelson's Column, and the best pictures use both. Stand back across the square so the full height of the spruce and the column fit in one frame, with the lit buildings behind. The vertical strings of lights read best at blue hour, just after sunset, when the sky still has colour. In the week of 7 December that is from about 3:53pm to 4:33pm.
After that the sky goes black and the lights carry the picture. Turn off your flash, use your phone's night mode and brace against the fountain wall. If the square is packed on a weekend, go back on a weekday evening, when you can stand where you want.
Seeing it on a lights tour
Most routes through the West End pass the square. These are the ways to reach it:
- On foot: the markets walk with mulled wine ends in the square, for $60.68 per person, adults only.
- On foot: the walk from Covent Garden passes it early on.
- By bus: the open-top night bus runs through the square after the Strand.
- By cab: several private black cabs pass it; compare them on private London Christmas lights tours.
The tree is lit well after the street displays go up, so an early-November tour sees the square without it. Where the square sits among the other stops is on the meeting-point map, and how to get there is on the visitors guide.
What happens in January
The tree stays until just before Twelfth Night. Then it comes down and goes for recycling: it is chipped and composted into mulch. If you are in London for the new year, catch it in the first days of January. What else runs into January is on things to do at Christmas.
Walks that pass the tree in the square
Christmas Lights and Markets Guided Walking Tour with Mulled Wine
Ninety minutes on foot from Covent Garden to the tree in the square, with a glass of mulled wine at a market; adults only.
From $60 per person
Check Availability
London Christmas Lights Guided Walking Tour
Two hours on foot from Covent Garden station, past the square, the arcades and the curve, ending by the Carnaby lights.
From $60 per person, bookings of two
Check Availability
The Christmas Lights and Bites Tour
Two and a half hours on foot with snacks, a light meal and Christmas cake, over the river to the South Bank's market.
From $133 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: Pick an evening after the tree is lit and before Twelfth Night, then book a walk that passes the square. Every fare sits side by side on London Christmas Lights Tours.