Winter start date: When does winter 2017 start and when is the winter solstice this year?
WINTER has officially arrived in the UK with snow sweeping across the country to herald the start of season this week.
The meteorological winter officially begins today (December 1) and will end on February 28 next year.
Meteorological seasons are worked out by splitting the seasons into four periods of three months each and winter is defined as December, January and February.
Winter in the UK is characterised by unsettled weather and low temperatures with cold fronts coming in from the North Atlantic.
Britain has already experienced a cold front with as arctic conditions bringing snow to northern Scotland and England’s eastern coast earlier this week.
Related articles
In the astronomical calendar, the winter solstice marks the first day of the season of winter. This date is three weeks later than the meteorological calendar.
The date of the winter solstice are not fixed so it is different every year, falling sometime between 20 December and 23 December.
The astronomical calendar determines the seasons on the 23.5 tilt of the Earth’s rotational axis in relation to its orbit around the sun.
Solstices and equinoxes are the transition points between the seasons and mark key stages in the astronomical cycle of the earth, the Met Office has said.
Getty
In a year we have two equinoxes (spring and autumn) and two solstices (summer and winter), however the dates of these are not fixed as it is due to the Earth’s elliptical orbit of the sun.
The winter solstice marks the point when the sun is exactly overhead the Tropic of Capricorn, which this year will happen on Thursday 21 December.
It occurs when the sun is furthest both from the Earth’s equator and the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere is tilted away resulting in less solar heating.
After the winter solstice, days start to get longer with more hours of daylight.
PA
The winter solstice is the shortest day in the calendar and the longest night, and is almost nine hours shorter than the longest day of the year.
The summer solstice in June is just short of 16 hours and 38 minutes long, while the winter solstice is a mere 7 hours and 50 minutes.
The solstice has given rise to the traditions now associated with Christmas, including the Christmas tree, the Yule log and the Christmas wreath.
