The winter solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year, marking the start of the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere Skyler Caruso is a Writer and Reporter of PEOPLE Digital ...

The summer solstice, the longest day of the year, falls on Friday, June 20, 2025, while the winter solstice, the shortest day, occurs on Sunday, December 21, 2025. Ready for winter to be over?

The exact moment of the winter solstice varies from year to year due to a slight misalignment between the Gregorian calendar and the actual rate of the Earth’s rotation around the sun.

It’s also the day of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, so it will be dark enough for us to catch a glimpse of the celestial conjunction. It’s been dubbed the “Christmas ...