Derbyshire: Winter Solstice 2021: when is the shortest day of the year in Derbyshire?

After a long, arduous wait, we’re slowly but surely getting there. It’s one of the most important days in the calendar year – and I’m not talking about Christmas!

Winter Solstice occurs every year on December 21st, signifying the shortest day of the year. After this day, the nights will once again begin growing shorter as we get more and more hours of sunlight.

On this day, it’s predicted that the sun will not rise until 8:18am, meaning it’ll be a very dark morning – be careful if you’re driving to work early. It’ll reach its apex at 12:04pm, meaning this will be the peak for sunlight hours on this day.

The sun will set at 3:50pm in Derbyshire and should have completely disappeared by 3:59pm. Once again, if you’re driving at any time around or after this, take care on the darkened roads.

Winter Solstice occurs in the northern hemisphere when the north pole is pointed directly away from the sun, meaning there will be minimum hours of sunlight for the top half of the Earth. This is why while we’re experiencing our winter, countries in the southern hemisphere (like Australia and South Africa) will be enjoying their summer.

If you’re on your holidays and you’d like something to do to fill the time before Christmas, you could seek out a vantage point to watch the sun set on the 21st. It’s always a magical sight – just make sure you bring some sunglasses!