When Does It Start Getting Lighter? | The Sun

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AS we leave the cold of the winter months behind us, thoughts immediately turn to spring and brighter mornings.

Here, we look at when you can expect to see the sun in the morning.

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When does it start getting lighter?

The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year – in terms of daylight.

After the winter solstice we will start seeing more daylight by an average of two minutes and seven seconds every day.

The winter solstice can fall between December 20-23, but it usually lands on December 20 or 21.

The hours of daylight will continue to get longer and longer until the summer solstice, which happens on either June 20, 21 or 22 each year.

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When will it be light in the evenings?

Brits have to wait until March for the sun to go down after 6pm.

The spring or vernal equinox marks the day when there is equal amount of daylight and nighttime.

This occurs for northern hemisphere countries when the sun crosses the equator line, heading north.

This means that the northern hemisphere will receive more sunlight each day as the earth is tilted more towards the sun.

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From this point, each day will be nearly four minutes longer than the day before.

Lighter evenings are also bolstered by daylight saving, when the clocks go forward one hour on the last Sunday in March.

This means that the evenings will be lighter and longer until the summer solstice.

The summer solstice occurs when the earth is at its maximum tilt, facing towards the sun.

When is the shortest day of the year?

Winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year and takes place in late December.

In 2023 the shortest day of the year will take place on December 22.

At this point, the Northern hemisphere is tilted at its furthest point away from the sun.

It means there is less than eight hours of daylight in the UK.

When do the clocks go forward?

It will get much lighter in the evenings when the clocks go forward in the spring.

This always takes place on the last Sunday in March.

It will add an extra hour of sunlight, as we head into the summer months.

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The clocks going forward by an hour is referred to as BST (British Summer Time) and lasts until the last Sunday in October.

The clocks then go back to what is referred to as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).