Countdown to
Winter Solstice
The year's longest night, then the turn
Today is Winter Solstice.
49 days until Winter Solstice, on Monday, December 21, 2026.
Winter Solstice is Monday, December 21, 2026. Happens the December (winter) solstice (computed astronomically, in UT).
The Winter Solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the moment the Sun reaches its lowest point in the midday sky. It marks the astronomical start of winter, yet it is also a turning point: from here, the days slowly lengthen again toward spring. In most years it lands on December 21 or 22, though it can range from December 20 to 23. Though we speak of it as a whole day, the solstice is a precise instant, arriving at the same moment everywhere on Earth.
A timezone note. The solstice is a single instant, and the date shown here is its date in Universal Time (UT). When that instant falls within a few hours of midnight UT, the local calendar date differs: in the Americas it can still be the evening of the previous day, while in East Asia and Australia it can already be the next day. If a printed calendar and this page disagree by a day, that is almost always why.
Origins and meaning
The word solstice comes from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still): for several days around the event, the Sun’s daily arc appears to pause before reversing course. Long before anyone could explain why, cultures across the Northern Hemisphere built the moment into stone. Ireland’s Newgrange, a passage tomb older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids, was engineered around 3200 BCE so that the solstice sunrise pours down a long, narrow passage to light its inner chamber for about seventeen minutes each year. Stonehenge, in turn, is aligned to the solstice sunset. Ancient Rome kept the festival of Saturnalia in late December, and Norse and Germanic peoples marked Yule, whose customs were later folded into midwinter and Christmas celebrations.
How it’s observed
Today the solstice is honored as much for its meaning as its astronomy. In Iran, Shab-e Yalda draws families together through the longest night to share pomegranates and watermelon and read the poetry of Hafez. Across East Asia, the Dongzhi Festival brings reunions over warm bowls of rice-ball soup. Crowds still gather at Stonehenge and Newgrange to watch the sunrise, while many people simply light candles, burn a Yule log, or pause to mark the year’s quiet turning point. Because the solstice depends on Earth’s tilt rather than its distance from the Sun, the same instant is felt very differently around the planet: in the Southern Hemisphere it is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year rather than the shortest.
❄️ Fun facts about Winter Solstice
- The word "solstice" comes from the Latin for "sun" and "to stand still," describing how the Sun's daily path appears to pause before it reverses direction.
- Ireland's Newgrange, a passage tomb older than Stonehenge and the Giza pyramids, is built so the winter solstice sunrise lights its inner chamber for about seventeen minutes each year.
- The solstice is the shortest day, but not the day of the earliest sunset or the latest sunrise; because of the "equation of time," those fall a couple of weeks before and after it.
- Earth is actually closest to the Sun in early January, just after the December solstice, since our seasons come from the planet's 23.4-degree tilt rather than its distance from the Sun.
- The solstice is a single instant, not a whole day, occurring at the same moment everywhere on Earth even though the local clock time differs from place to place.
Upcoming Winter Solstice dates
| Date | Days away |
|---|---|
| 49 days | |
| 415 days | |
| 780 days | |
| 1,145 days | |
| 1,510 days |
How people mark Winter Solstice
- Lighting candles on the longest night
- Burning a Yule log
- Gathering at Stonehenge for sunrise
- Shab-e Yalda feasts and Hafez poetry
- Dongzhi reunions over rice-ball soup
- Watching the solstice sunrise at Newgrange
Frequently asked
What day is the Winter Solstice?
It is the December solstice, the moment marking the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere, which falls around December 21 each year. In most years it lands on the 21st or 22nd, but it can range from December 20 to 23.
Is the Winter Solstice really the shortest day of the year?
Yes. In the Northern Hemisphere it has the fewest hours of daylight. At the same instant, the Southern Hemisphere has its summer solstice, the longest day of its year.
Why isn't the earliest sunset on the solstice itself?
Because of a quirk called the equation of time, the earliest sunset arrives a couple of weeks before the solstice and the latest sunrise a couple of weeks after. Only the total amount of daylight is at its minimum on the solstice.
What causes the Winter Solstice?
Earth's axis is tilted about 23.4 degrees. At the December solstice the North Pole leans farthest from the Sun, which stands directly overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn.