When Do The Mornings Start Getting Lighter? | Metro News

In winter, we sometimes get just a few hours of daylight – with dark early mornings and the sun setting once again by 5pm.

During those colder months, it can feel like we only see light on our lunch break or during the weekend, which can’t be good for our health or wellbeing.

Thankfully, the daylight hours do get longer following the winter solstice and shortest day of the year – though it takes a little while before there’s noticeably more daylight in the mornings.

It’s all to do with something called the Equation of Time.

The winter solstice falls on December 21 each year (or sometimes in the wee hours of December 22).

This is the day with the shortest amount of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere, although those in the Southern Hemisphere are the opposite way around.

In theory, this should mean that mornings are lighter from then.

However, due to the Equation of Time this isn’t always the case. This equation relates to the Earth’s orbit and axis.

Because of the way the Earth moves, solar noon doesn’t always occur at noon on our clocks every day. Essentially, even though our days are measured in 24 hours, actual days can be slightly over.

Due to this, there is a slight discrepancy between the solstice and when it actually starts getting lighter in the mornings, as the daylight hours get longer, but specifically at the end of the day.

Daylight hours will get longer everyday until the summer solstice (longest day of the year).

The mornings started getting brighter at the beginning of January, rather than on the solstice itself.

By February 8 this year, London saw its first sunset after 5pm (taking place at 5.02pm) – while the sun started rising before 7am (at 6.59am) from February 23, according to Time and Date.

Of course, things start to feel lighter and brighter overall when the clocks spring forward an hour – particularly in the evenings.

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When do the clocks go forward in 2023?

The clocks ‘spring forward’ on the last Sunday in March each year – so in 2023, they ‘sprung forward’ on Sunday, March 26 at 1am.

We’ve been in British Summer Time (BST) or Daylight Savings Time (DST) since then, which will stay in place until the clocks ‘fall back’ again the last Sunday in October.

This year, they go back on Sunday, October 29. At that point, UK clocks will return to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

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