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Sinead Butler
Dec 22, 2021
Last night marked the Winter Solstice, where we experienced the shortest day of the year.
With sunrise at 8.04 am and sunset at 3.53 pm in London (give or take up to 40 minutes in other parts of the UK), we experienced just seven hours and 49 minutes of daylight yesterday.
But not to worry as the Winter Solstice means that instead of the days getting shorter with longer nights, this will now change with days getting longer and nights getting shorter over the course of the next six months.
This will lead up to the Summer Solstice which typically happens on June 21, the longest day in the year.
As Good Morning Britain weather presenter and Meteorologist Laura Tobin explained, today we will get two extra seconds of daylight.
It’s the #WinterSolstice Today is the ‘shortest day’ From tomorrow onwards the days get longer, (there will be 2 s… https://t.co/Pu2ZCVQuo6— Laura Tobin (@Laura Tobin) 1640091050
Traditionally, crowds of druids, pagans and enthusiasts gather at Stonehenge, the 5,000 year old ancient site in England to commemorate the Winter Solstice as it is widely thought that the stones are perfectly aligned to frame the midwinter sunset at the winter solstice and the midsummer sunrise at the summer solstice.
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“Winter might have been a time of fear as the days grew shorter and colder. People must have longed for the return of light and warmth,” English Heritage explained.
“Marking this yearly cycle may have been one of the reasons that Neolithic people constructed Stonehenge – a monument aligned to the movements of the sun.”
This year was no different, despite the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, people from across the country travelled to witness the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge.
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It’s fair to say people on Twitter were pretty excited about the fact that the short winter days are soon to get longer with increasing daylight.
The days are getting longer again 👊— Sonia Sodha (@Sonia Sodha) 1640163378
Days getting longer again. An unusually cheerful tweet— John Crace (@John Crace) 1640128337
Days are getting longer: summer is just round the corner! 🌞☀️ https://t.co/ek9XvKww51— Lucy Keating (@Lucy Keating) 1640164429
Meanwhile, many were also sharing their sunrise snaps to celebrate the commencing of longer days - and more importantly more sunshine...
Here are the best photos people have posted on Twitter:
The start of longer days … https://t.co/UuHCiIrWbC— Dr Radha (@Dr Radha) 1640159814
@soniasodha This was my view this morning at 8am https://t.co/iot2hWwCwj— Alia Waheed #JusticeforNoor (@Alia Waheed #JusticeforNoor) 1640163707
The days will be getting longer again!!! https://t.co/nxEWA5L6xv— frog (@frog) 1640161423
Longer days start today - we’ve got this 💪🏾 https://t.co/yUoA7jSF1n— Natalia (@Natalia) 1640165991
Bring me these longer days… on our way to summer 🙌🏼😂 #sunrise https://t.co/B8vehsfATo— GEMMA (@GEMMA) 1640161021
And so the days get longer. View over the old water meadows by the Frome to the north of Dorchester this morning. https://t.co/4hhlAlAQQp— Richard Bradford (@Richard Bradford) 1640167441
A beautiful Solstice sunrise at Sandbanks Beach - longer days are coming 🌅 #Poole #Dorset #WinterSolstice https://t.co/YtnBkFsY6I— Andy Whiting (@Andy Whiting) 1640160977
Here comes the sun! Happy Winter Solstice, to one and all (or those in the Northern Hemisphere). Longer days with m… https://t.co/f5YBByJC5F— Benedict ALLEN (@Benedict ALLEN) 1640159200
The days are getting longer and also more stunning hun! https://t.co/myjAPIc1i6— Nadia Kamil (@Nadia Kamil) 1640162395
And the sun is up! Longer days are coming. ☀️ Happy Winter Solstice from Stonehenge! @EH_Stonehenge… https://t.co/CWced3iK1V— English Heritage (@English Heritage) 1640168997
The days are getting longer from today, beautiful colours for sunrise after the #WinterSolstice ☀️ https://t.co/FtAULcSwvw— Richard Crowley (@Richard Crowley) 1640160645
Dawn finally breaks for longer days. https://t.co/FnZ5vLtS2k— Moi (@Moi) 1640160688
Reasons to be hopeful. The longest night is over and longer days are on their way back 😁 #WinterSolstice https://t.co/X5WfHl6bKG— Ben McCafferty (@Ben McCafferty) 1640160816
The days get longer from here on in x https://t.co/yrtIZ21xSV— Katherine Rooney (@Katherine Rooney) 1640160644
What a beautiful, frosty sunrise today on the @thesuffolkcoast @SuffolkAONB @LifeOnTheDeben. Days are getting longe… https://t.co/klXY4Cqfsx— Nick Collinson (@Nick Collinson) 1640161650
Good morning Wivenhoe - the days are already getting longer https://t.co/r13xPUF98H— Stephen Burke (@Stephen Burke) 1640162386
The days start to get longer at Southmead Hospital :-) #Solstice @NorthBristolNHS @SuperSouthmead https://t.co/VfHgKRAuI3— Joydeep Grover (@Joydeep Grover) 1640169637
Welcoming the start of longer days and brighter times by watching the sun rise while swimming in a chilly lake.… https://t.co/XKB1bhfV5Y— Tom Webster-Deakin (@Tom Webster-Deakin) 1640167578
Stunning sunrise 🌄 in #seaton this morning as the days finally get longer to lift all our spirits. https://t.co/VEgYBzkNJa— Carol Austin (@Carol Austin) 1640168776
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