Winter Solstice 2024: When is the shortest day of the year?

On By Littum

While it was celebrated as a sacred time in ancient cultures, the winter solstice continues to have significance in the present to mark the beginning of winter.

The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year and marks the period with the fewest hours of daylight. It also represents the longest night of the year, and the time when the sun is at its lowest daily maximum height in the sky.

The word “solstice” originates from sunthe Latin word for sun, and sisterwhich means “to stop or take a stand”.

As the Southern Hemisphere celebrates the start of summer, those north of the equator will experience its opposite, the first day of winter. This year it will fall on Saturday, December 21 at 9:21 a.m., while the sun is expected to set at 3:51 p.m.

This means that there will be 7 hours 49 minutes and 42 seconds of daylight. This means that it is 8 hours and 49 minutes shorter than the June solstice.

While this means that the day is likely to be dark and dreary, the good news is that it also means that the days will gradually get longer, with more hours of daylight until the climax of the summer solstice.

The variation occurs because the Earth orbits the sun at an angle of 23.4 degrees on its axis, according to the Royal Museums of Greenwich.

During the warmer periods, the North Pole tilts towards the sun in the Northern Hemisphere, which means longer daylight hours, while the Southern Hemisphere experiences the opposite. In winter, the situation is reversed, as the North Pole tilts away from the sun for the Northern Hemisphere.

People take part in winter solstice celebrations at Stone Henge in December 2023
People take part in winter solstice celebrations at Stone Henge in December 2023 (ON)

Arriving on the same day across the globe, a solstice occurs when the sun reaches its lowest or highest point in the sky during the year as a result of the Earth’s axis tilting towards or away from the sun.

For the Southern Hemisphere, the opposite is the case, as December 21st is the one day of the year with the longest period of sunlight.

Historically, the winter solstice has been of great importance to many cultures, such as ancient Egypt and ancient Rome, often as a marker of the passing of years and a possible time of rebirth.

In Northern Europe, from the Faroe Islands to Estonia, Germanic peoples have long celebrated the event that became known as Christmas.

While Christmas dates back to the Nordic people who celebrated the rebirth of the sun for 12 days, it was also celebrated by Anglo-Saxon pagans.

According to Pliny the Elder, in Britain, Druid priests would mark the important date by gathering mistletoe and sacrificing bulls – which was probably also a practical measure to limit the number of mouths to feed during months of famine.