Winter Solstice: Timeline of increased daylight as we move away from shortest day of the year

Winter-time can often feel like a drawn-out affair, with seemingly never-ending dark days and miserable weather.

So it's no wonder us Brits count down to the Winter Solstice and look forward to brighter and longer days returning.

What is the Winter Solstice?

The Winter Solstice is also known as the shortest day of the year - lasting 7 hours 49 minutes and 42 seconds according to Royal Museums Greenwich.

The Winter Solstice is a 24-hour period (and in 2023 fell on Friday, December 22) with the fewest daylight hours of the year, which occurs when the sun is at its lowest point in the sky.

When will we see more daylight?

However, after the Winter Solstice has taken place, the days will start to get longer, leading to increased daylight hours until the longest day of the year on Thursday, June 20 2024.

During the middle of January, is when we will first see an extra hour of daylight. From this moment, we will then experience an extra hour of daylight every four weeks until the longest day of the year.

When is the Spring Equinox?

The Spring Equinox will then take place on Wednesday, March 20 2024, before the clocks go forward on Sunday, March 31 2024 - which will result in lighter days.