The shortest day of the year 2026: date, time and daylight
On December 21, 2026, London gets less than eight hours of daylight. By then the earliest sunset of the year is already behind you, and the latest sunrise is still to come around the turn of the year.
When is the shortest day of the year 2026?
The shortest day of the year 2026 is Monday, December 21, in the Northern Hemisphere. The winter solstice itself happens at 8:50 p.m. GMT, which is 3:50 p.m. Eastern Time (Royal Observatory Greenwich, 2026). London gets about 7 hours 50 minutes of daylight that day, New York about 9 hours 15 minutes.
When is the winter solstice 2026?
In the Northern Hemisphere the winter solstice falls in December every year. In 2026 it is on Monday, December 21. The exact moment is 8:50 p.m. GMT (Royal Observatory Greenwich, 2026).
In other time zones that is 3:50 p.m. Eastern Time, 2:50 p.m. Central Time and 12:50 p.m. Pacific Time, all on December 21. In Berlin, Vienna and Zurich it is 9:50 p.m. Central European Time.
In the Southern Hemisphere it works the other way around: in December the South Pole is tilted toward the sun, and it is summer there (Royal Observatory Greenwich, 2026).
How many hours of daylight are there on the shortest day?
LightOtter calculated sunrise, sunset and day length for December 21, 2026 from the position of the sun, with the same method as its city table. Times are local.
- London: sunrise 8:04 a.m., sunset 3:53 p.m., 7 h 50 min of daylight
- New York: sunrise 7:17 a.m., sunset 4:32 p.m., 9 h 15 min
- Chicago: sunrise 7:15 a.m., sunset 4:23 p.m., 9 h 08 min
- Toronto: sunrise 7:48 a.m., sunset 4:44 p.m., 8 h 56 min
- Los Angeles: sunrise 6:55 a.m., sunset 4:48 p.m., 9 h 53 min
- Berlin: sunrise 8:15 a.m., sunset 3:54 p.m., 7 h 39 min
Sunrise and day length for 11 cities, month by month: the full table.
Why is the winter solstice the shortest day?
The Earth is tilted 23.4 degrees on its axis. In the northern winter the North Pole is tilted away from the sun, so there are fewer hours of daylight (Royal Observatory Greenwich, 2026).
The solstice is the point when this tilt away from the sun is at its maximum and the sun is lowest in the sky. That gives the shortest day and the longest night of the year (Royal Observatory Greenwich, 2026). In London the shortest day is 8 hours 49 minutes shorter than the day of the summer solstice (Royal Observatory Greenwich, 2026).
What does solstice mean?
The word comes from the Latin solstitium, meaning “Sun stands still”. The Sun’s apparent path in the sky stops moving north or south before it changes direction (Royal Observatory Greenwich, 2026).
Under the old Julian calendar the winter solstice fell on December 25. With the Gregorian calendar it moved to the 21st (Royal Observatory Greenwich, 2026). In Scandinavia the pre-Christian feast of Juul was held at the time of the December solstice, and Christmas customs such as the Yule log go back to it (Royal Observatory Greenwich, 2026).
When do days start getting longer?
Right after the shortest day, days start getting longer and nights shorter (Royal Observatory Greenwich, 2026). At first you will hardly notice. By LightOtter’s calculation, London has about 5 minutes more daylight on December 31 than on December 21, and New York about 3 minutes more.
By January 21, 2027 the gain is clearer: about 47 minutes in London, 49 in Berlin and 30 in New York, compared with the shortest day.
Why is the earliest sunset not on the solstice?
A solar day is not always exactly 24 hours long. It can be a few seconds up to 30 seconds longer (National Weather Service). Over the year this moves the time of solar noon; astronomers call it the equation of time (NOAA).
Around the solstice, solar noon keeps moving later on the clock. By LightOtter’s calculation, the sun in London is highest at 11:50 a.m. on December 1 and at 12:04 p.m. on December 31. Sunrise and sunset move with it, while the length of the day barely changes. So the earliest sunset comes before December 21 and the latest sunrise comes after it. Near 40 degrees north the earliest sunset falls in the first days of December, and the latest sunrise around New Year’s Day (National Weather Service).
By LightOtter’s calculation for this winter, the earliest sunset in London is on December 12 at 3:51 p.m. and the latest sunrise on December 30 at 8:06 a.m. In New York the earliest sunset is on December 7 at 4:28 p.m. and the latest sunrise on January 4, 2027 at 7:20 a.m.
What the shortest day means for morning light
Around the solstice the sun rises late: after 8:00 a.m. in London and after 7:15 a.m. in New York. If you leave home before that, your first daylight comes later in the morning, for example in a first break.
A 2026 policy brief says that winter advice at high latitudes may need to put weight on bright rooms and on time outdoors when daylight is available. It gives its advice as a direction, not as a precise dose for every person (Piper et al., 2026).
LightOtter has its own rule of thumb, an estimate and not a measurement: on an overcast winter morning about 20 to 25 minutes outside, and up to 30 when the sun is very low. On a clear morning it is about 10 minutes. Never look directly at the sun.
What this is not
The times on this page are astronomical values and calculations for the cities listed. Weather, hills and buildings change what you see where you live. This is not medical advice, and LightOtter is not a medical device. If you feel tired for a long time, talk to a doctor.
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