Why is today the longest day of the year? Summer solstice 2024 explained

20 June 2024, 09:20

By Alice Dear

Is today the longest day of the year? Does the longest day of the year change? How many hours of sunlight will we get in the UK today?

The longest day of the year for 2024 will occur on Thursday 20th June, marking the summer solstice and the start of the astronomical summer.

While the summer solstice is actually a specific time of the day, people generally celebrate the day as it marks the day where we experience the most amount of hours of sunlight.

It occurs due to the fact that the Earth's rotation axis is tilted slightly at 23.44°, this creates seasons and means that one half of the year the North side of the planet is tilted slightly towards the Sun and the South is tilted away.

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The longest day of the year is when the tilt of the Earth is the closest to the sun, meaning more hours of exposure to sunlight.

Is today the longest day of the year?

Yes! Today, Thursday 20th June, is the longest day of the year with the 'summer solstice' occurring at 9:51pm, marking the official start of astronomical summer.

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Why is today the longest day of the year?

The longest day of the year, also known at the summer solstice or midsummer, marks the day when there is the most hours of sunlight and the least hours of darkness.

The summer solstice, while believed by many to be a day, is actually a specific time of the longest day of the year when the hemisphere you're in is most tilted towards the sun. For us in the UK, this will occur at 9:51pm.

Does the longest day of the year change?

The longest day of the year or the summer solstice has changed dates over the years, but have only differed from two dates; 20th and 21st June.

This is because, as explained by Space.com, "the solstices also do not land on the same calendar day every year because the astronomical year is 365.25 days long.

When is sunrise and sunset on longest day of the year?

The sunrise occurred at 4:43am on the longest day of the year in 2024, and the sunset is set to happen at 9:21pm this evening.

This means that today, on 20th June, we will enjoy 16 hours and 38 minutes of sunlight.