Real midsummer date confirmed as Scotland gears up for longest day of the year

Daily Record

a day ago

Despite the dreich weather, midsummer is nearly here and by some counts, summer is already half over.
It may come as a surprise to sun-starved Scots, but midsummer is just around the corner, even if it feels like summer hasn't quite got off the ground yet.
With rain-soaked days and cool breezes more suited to October than June, it's been a sluggish start to the season. But despite the grey skies, by some traditional measures we are already nearing the halfway point of summer, Scottish Daily Express reports.
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Midsummer, often linked to ancient solstice celebrations, will fall this year on Tuesday, June 24. It typically lands a few days after the summer solstice itself, which in 2025 will occur at precisely 3.42am on Saturday, June 21.
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From that moment on, you're officially allowed to roll out the classic Scottish phrase: 'The nights are fair drawin' in.'
Although we tend to think of summer as June, July and August, midsummer developed from much older traditions when the season was thought to begin with Beltane at the start of May.
Stone circles scattered across Britain offer a lasting legacy of how deeply our ancestors revered this moment of the year, marking abundance, fertility and a sacred connection with the sun.
While the solstice is often dubbed 'the longest day', it is in fact a single astronomical moment, the precise time when the Earth's tilt brings the northern hemisphere closest to the sun.
What it does bring, however, is the longest stretch of daylight hours all year.
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Just how long that day lasts depends on where in the UK you are. Unsurprisingly, the further north you go, the more daylight you get.
In Lerwick, Shetland, daylight on the solstice will last an extraordinary 18 hours, 55 minutes and 34 seconds. The sun will rise at 3.38am and won't dip below the horizon until 10.34pm.
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In Glasgow, the sun will make an appearance at 4.31am and set again at 10.06pm, delivering a daylight total of 17 hours, 35 minutes and four seconds.
Over in Edinburgh, the day is fractionally longer at 17 hours, 36 minutes and 24 seconds thanks to a 4.26am sunrise and a 10.02pm sunset.
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Further south, daylight begins to shrink. In Belfast, midsummer's day will last 17 hours, 16 minutes and 44 seconds, with the sun going down at 10.03pm. In Manchester, the total drops to 17 hours, one minute and 52 seconds, with sunset at 9.41pm.
Londoners can expect the sun to rise at 4.43am and set at 9.21pm, clocking 16 hours, 38 minutes and 22 seconds of daylight. Meanwhile in Cardiff, daylight will last 16 hours, 38 minutes and 6 seconds, ending with a 9.33pm sunset.
Right at the southernmost tip of mainland Britain, Land's End will have the shortest solstice day in the UK, 16 hours, 22 minutes and 53 seconds, with sunrise at 5.31am and sunset at 9.36pm. That's more than two-and-a-half hours less sunshine than Shetland.
So, while you may not have broken out the BBQ just yet, the sun is certainly making its longest appearance. Whether summer decides to show up with it remains to be seen.