Do you know that there is a city in Norway simply over 300 kilometres from the Arctic Circle the place the solar by no means rises for 3 months of the 12 months – in a phenomenon referred to as the Polar Night time? Whereas this may increasingly sound drastic, right here within the UK, it could possibly generally really feel like we aren’t too removed from our personal Polar Night time.
Every winter, the times the get shorter (and shorter and shorter). It will probably generally really feel like we reside half of our lives in darkness. We get up, it is darkish. We head to the workplace, the solar appears to be pondering abut rising. We work. We go away the workplace for our lunch break, it is gray. We work. We go away the workplace — oh, it is darkish once more.
So, the query on all of our minds throughout these bleak, darkish winter months? When does it begin getting lighter?
When does it begin getting lighter?
With the winter solstice quick approaching, we’re nearing the shortest day of the 12 months — sure, it should worsen earlier than it will get higher!
Formally, days will begin to get lighter after the winter solstice on 21 December, which is formally the shortest day of the 12 months. Put together for a really brutal day with just below eight hours of daylight — 7 hours 49 minutes and 42 seconds in London, to be exact. On 21 December, the solar is ready to rise at round 8:04 am earlier than dipping again beneath the horizon within the mid-afternoon, round 3:54 pm. In the meantime, these of us that work at home will most likely be reaching for our fluffiest blanket, our cosiest candles and our most comforting festive films. (And who may blame us?)
After the winter solstice, the times will (slowly) start to get slightly longer and lighter once more. Nevertheless, you most likely will not actually discover the distinction till mid-February or so. By then, chances are you’ll even catch a glimpse of the solar outdoors of your working hours. On 15 February, as an illustration, we’ll get our first 10 hour day, with the dawn due at 7:15 am and sundown anticipated at 5:16 pm.
By March, we’ll hit equilibrium, with 12 hour days and 12 hour nights. We’re already marking our calendars for the 20 March spring solstice – when the times will formally begin to be longer than the nights. On that day, you possibly can anticipate a 6:04 am dawn and a 6:13 pm sundown.
Methods to cope with the lengthy, darkish nights in winter
The lengthy, bleak winter nights can take their toll. For some, it could possibly even result in Seasonal Affective Dysfunction (SAD), which is linked to diminished daylight and is characterised by signs like unhappiness, nervousness, a scarcity of vitality, poor focus, low temper and extra. Roughly 3% of individuals within the UK are formally identified with the situation, but it surely’s no secret that elevated darkness can make it laborious to muster up a lot vitality within the mornings and might even have an effect on our psychological well being.