UK sunset times
Sunset, dark and sunrise for 28 UK towns on any date.
Dates & time · Winter solstice 2026
Shortest day 2026: Monday 21 December
The shortest day of 2026 in the UK is Monday 21 December. The winter solstice is at 20:50 GMT that evening. In London the sun rises at 08:04 and sets at 15:53, giving 7h 49m of daylight, against 16h 39m on 21 June.
7h 49mof daylight in London on 21 December 2026
21 December 2026
Sunrise, sunset and day length on the shortest day
UK clock time (GMT), worked out with the NOAA solar equations used across UtilHub’s sunset pages. Solstice time from the US Naval Observatory: Earth's seasons.
| City | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Day length 21 June | Extra daylight by 31 Jan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 08:04 | 15:53 | 7h 49m | 16h 39m | 1h 18m |
| Birmingham | 08:16 | 15:55 | 7h 39m | 16h 50m | 1h 21m |
| Manchester | 08:23 | 15:51 | 7h 28m | 17h 02m | 1h 25m |
| Leeds | 08:22 | 15:47 | 7h 25m | 17h 06m | 1h 25m |
| Newcastle | 08:29 | 15:40 | 7h 11m | 17h 22m | 1h 31m |
| Glasgow | 08:46 | 15:44 | 6h 58m | 17h 35m | 1h 36m |
| Edinburgh | 08:42 | 15:40 | 6h 58m | 17h 37m | 1h 35m |
| Cardiff | 08:16 | 16:06 | 7h 50m | 16h 39m | 1h 17m |
| Belfast | 08:44 | 15:59 | 7h 15m | 17h 17m | 1h 30m |
Darkest mornings and evenings
Earliest sunset and latest sunrise, winter 2026/27
The earliest sunset is the day with the earliest exact sunset instant in December, the same rule as the city sunrise and sunset pages; times are rounded to the minute, so the clock shows that minute for several days. The latest sunrise shows the days on the latest minute between 1 December 2026 and 15 January 2027.
| City | Earliest sunset | Same minute on | Latest sunrise |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 15:51 on 12 December | 10 December to 14 December | 08:06, 26 December to 4 January |
| Birmingham | 15:53 on 13 December | 11 December to 15 December | 08:18, 25 December to 4 January |
| Manchester | 15:49 on 13 December | 11 December to 15 December | 08:25, 26 December to 3 January |
| Leeds | 15:45 on 13 December | 9 December to 18 December | 08:24, 25 December to 3 January |
| Newcastle | 15:38 on 14 December | 10 December to 17 December | 08:32, 29 December |
| Glasgow | 15:43 on 14 December | 10 December to 18 December | 08:48, 26 December to 31 December |
| Edinburgh | 15:38 on 14 December | 11 December to 18 December | 08:44, 25 December to 1 January |
| Cardiff | 16:04 on 12 December | 7 December to 17 December | 08:18, 26 December to 4 January |
| Belfast | 15:58 on 14 December | 9 December to 18 December | 08:46, 24 December to 3 January |
Related
Related dates and tools.
Days until Christmas
Live countdown to Friday 25 December 2026, with working days left.
Christmas bank holidays 2026
Boxing Day moves to Monday 28 December; Scotland also has Monday 4 January.
Cold Weather Payment checker
£25 for each 7-day freeze from 1 November 2026: who qualifies.
Helpful answers
Shortest day FAQs.
When is the shortest day in 2026?
Monday 21 December 2026. The December solstice is at 20:50 UT (GMT) on 21 December, according to the US Naval Observatory.
How long is the shortest day in the UK?
It depends on how far north you are: 7h 49m in London and 6h 58m in Edinburgh on 21 December 2026, from the sunrise and sunset times on this page.
Why is the earliest sunset not on the shortest day?
Because solar noon gets later through December, sunsets start getting later before the solstice and sunrises keep getting later until early January. In London the earliest sunset is 15:51 on Saturday 12 December (the clock shows 15:51 from 10 December to 14 December), and the latest sunrise is 08:06, from Saturday 26 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027.
When do the days start getting longer?
From 22 December. By 31 January 2027 London has 1h 18m more daylight than on the shortest day.