Summer Solstice: When the sun will set in Mansfield today on longest day of the year

Many people consider it to be the first day of summer, although for others, paradoxically, it is known as midsummer.

However, it also holds great significance far beyond that, as anybody who has seen druids revelling at Stonehenge on the morning of the solstice can attest to – here’s everything you need to know.

What is the summer solstice?

The summer solstice marks the date of the longest period of daylight and the shortest night of the year, when the Earth’s north pole has its maximum tilt towards the sun.

Slightly confusingly, as well as kicking off the astronomical season, the solstice can also be known as midsummer – because the days begin to get shorter after it has passed.

Conversely, the winter solstice (or midwinter), which tends to fall around the 21 December, marks the shortest day of the year and the start of the astronomical season.

Equinoxes get their name from the Latin for “equal night”, and mark the only two points in the year when the equator is the closest part of Earth to the sun.

For six months each of the year, either the northern or southern hemisphere is pointing slightly more towards the sun, bringing the warmer temperatures of spring and summer.

The autumnal and spring equinoxes mark when the two hemispheres swap over, while the summer and winter solstices denote the sun reaching its most northerly and southerly points.

How long is the longest day of the year?

The amount of daylight you will experience will vary throughout the UK, depending on where you live and how close your location is to the North Pole.

Areas like Northern Ireland and Scotland will experience longer daylight than the south of England or Channel Islands.

The average hours of sunlight we can expect to see is around 16 in England.

In Mansfield, the sun rose at 4.38am this morning and will set at 9.34pm – that’s 16 hours and 55 minutes of sunlight.

Other places around the UK:

Lerwick, Scotland: sunrise 3:39 am, sunset 10:34pm

Inverness, Scotland: sunrise 4:17am, sunset 10:19pm

Edinburgh, Scotland: sunrise 4:23am, sunset 10:05pm

Newcastle Upon Tyne, England: sunrise 4:27am, sunset 9:49pm (17 hr)

Belfast, Northern Ireland: sunrise 4:47am, sunset 10:03pm

Manchester, England: sunrise 4:49am, sunset 9:41pm

Liverpool, England: sunrise 4:43am, sunset 9:40pm

Birmingham, England: sunrise 4:44am, sunset 9:34pm

Stonehenge, England: sunrise 4:52am, sunset 9:27pm

Cardiff, Wales: sunrise 4:55am, sunset 9:33pm

London, England: sunrise 4:43am, sunset 9:21pm

Southampton, England: sunrise 4:51am, sunset 9:23pm

Falmouth, England: sunrise 5:10am, sunset 9:34pm

Jersey, Channel Islands: sunrise 5:03am, sunset 9:17pm