What is summer solstice? There are two solstices each year - one in the winter and one in the summer. The summer solstice occurs when the tilt of Earth's axis is most inclined towards the Sun and is directly above the Tropic of Cancer. It is a day to celebrate, being the longest day in the northern hemisphere and it signals the moment the sun's path stops moving northward in the sky, and the length of days becoming steadily shorter as the slow march towards winter begins. However, we won't notice the days becoming shorter for a while. The shortest day of the year isn't until Thursday, December 21, known as the winter solstice. In the southern hemisphere the dates of the two solstices are reversed. The winter solstice occurs on the same day in June and the summer solstice the same day in December. What happens during the winter solstice? At the winter solstice, the Earth's axis is tilted furthest away from the Sun directly over the Tropic of Capricorn bringing only a few hours of daylight. December 21 will be eight hours and 49 minutes shorter than the June solstice when the sun will set at 16:27 in London.
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