THE NIGHTS have been drawing in, the weather has been damp, dank and miserable, throw in Covid and well lets just say its lucky Christmas Day is fast approaching
Today (Tuesday) marks the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year with the least amount of sunlight hours, that’s if the sun even dares make an appearance.
But as D-Ream said in the 90s, things can only get better – to explain why first we must ask, what is the winter solstice?
It’s when the North Pole is tilted the farthest away from the sun, delivering the fewest hours of sunlight and the shortest day of the year.
The sun came up this morning in Evesham and Pershore at 8.14am with Worcester following two minutes later but it will set at 3.58pm this afternoon meaning just seven hour 44 or 42 minutes on sunlight is on offer today.
And this is a good thing?
Well it all depends on your outlook, the further north you head today the longer the shorter the daylight will be. Father Christmas and the Elves will need the lights on all day today as the North Pole will remain in darkness for the whole day.
From today, the days will slowly but surely grow longer and we can begin to look forward to lighter and brighter days.
It may take a while but come Spring the dark late afternoons will be a thing of the past with lighter and brighter evenings on offer all the way to the Summer Solstice and the longest day of the year on June 21, when thoughts turn to sunshine holidays abroad….hopefully!
The lighter and brighter evenings will also allow for after work meetings with colleagues in the garden, cheese and wine optional.
But why is it called ‘Solstice’?
Solstice is an amalgamation of the Latin words “sol” (sun) and “sistere” (stand still), according to the Franklin Institute. As sol means sun and sistere is to stand still, solstitium translates to ‘the standing still of the sun’.
