An all-sky VHF meteor radar at Esrange (68¿N, 21¿E) near Kiruna in Northern Sweden has been used to investigate the 8-hour tide in the Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere. We present a climatology of the 8-hour tide over the period October 1999 to April 2001. The tide appears to be a persistent feature of the Arctic atmosphere, although a large day-to-day variability of the tidal amplitude is observed. At times the 8-hour tide reaches amplitudes over 30 m s-1. The amplitude of the tide increases with height across the observed height range of ~80--100 km. Monthly mean tidal amplitudes range from <2 m s-1 to values as large as 10 m s-1. A clear seasonal behavior is apparent with maximum amplitudes observed in the autumn. Vertical wavelengths are shortest in winter and spring (25--35 km) and longest in summer and autumn (50--90 km). At least on some occasions the vertical wave number relationships between the 8-, 12-, and 24-hour tides suggest that the 8-hour tide is being generated by nonlinear interaction between the 12- and 24-hour tides.