Thousands of tourists, pagans, druids and people simply yearning for the promise of spring marked the dawn of the shortest day of the year at the ancient Stonehenge monument on Saturday.
Revellers cheered and beat drums as the sun rose at 8:09 am over the giant standing stones on the winter solstice – the shortest day and the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere.
No one could see the sun through the low winter cloud, but that did not deter a flurry of drumming, chanting and singing as dawn broke.
There will be less than eight hours of daylight in England on Saturday – but after that, the days get longer until the summer solstice in June.
The apparent position of the Sun in the sky changes throughout the year.
This occurs because the Earth orbits at an angle of 23.4 degrees on its axis.
During summer in the northern hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted towards the Sun, and so it receives more direct sunlight and longer daylight hours.
Meanwhile, during winter in the northern hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted away from the Sun, resulting in fewer daylight hours.
Thousands of tourists, pagans and druids marked the dawn of the shortest day of the year at the ancient Stonehenge monument on Saturday
A reveller attends winter solstice celebrations at Stonehenge stone circle today
People take part in the winter solstice celebrations during sunrise at the Stonehenge prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire
Solstices occur twice a year, and are known as the ‘summer solstice’ and the ‘winter solstice’.
‘The summer solstice, which occurs around the 21 June in the Northern Hemisphere, is the day of the year with the longest period of daylight while the winter solstice, on or around the 21 December in the Northern Hemisphere, is the day with the shortest period of daylight,’ the Met Office explained.
According to the astronomical definition, today is the start of winter.
‘The astronomical calendar determines the seasons due to the 23.5 degrees of tilt of the Earth’s rotational axis in relation to its orbit around the Sun,’ the Met Office explained.
However, many weather forecasters including the Met Office often use a meteorological definition of the seasons.
Meteorological seasons consist of splitting the seasons into four periods, made up of three months each.
So by this definition, the first day of winter is always 1 December, ending on 28 (or 29 during a Leap Year) February.
Winter solstice is celebrated by cultures across the globe. In the UK, Stonehenge is a site of celebration for the winter and solstice.
People visit the Stonehenge to get a glimpse of the sun as it gleams through the stones, including neo-Druids and neo-Pagans.
Solstices occur twice a year, and are known as the ‘summer solstice’ and the ‘winter solstice’
Arthur Pendragon poses for a portrait as he takes part in the winter solstice celebrations at Stonehenge
A hobby horse decked out in ribbons performs during the winter Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge today
A person’s face is daubed with blue paint as they take part in the winter Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge, England, Saturday
Winter solstice is celebrated by cultures across the globe. In the UK, Stonehenge is a site of celebration for the winter and solstice
A man lays hands on one of the stones during the winter Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge today
For ancient cultures, the passage of time was important, particularly for people living around Stonehenge who were farmers growing crops
The ancient structure was built to frame the sun during the midwinter sunrise and the summer solstice, indicating when the days will start getting longer or shorter.
For ancient cultures, the passage of time was important, particularly for people living around Stonehenge who were farmers growing crops.
In the winter the sun sets to the south-west of the stone circle.
The solstices are the only occasions when visitors can go right up to the stones at Stonehenge, and thousands are willing to rise before dawn to soak up the atmosphere.
The stone circle, whose giant pillars each took 1,000 people to move, was erected starting about 5,000 years ago by a sun-worshipping Neolithic culture.
Its full purpose is still debated: Was it a temple, a solar calculator, a cemetery, or some combination of all three?
Morris dancers take part in the winter Solstice celebrations
People touch one of the stones as they take part in the winter solstice celebrations during sunrise at the Stonehenge prehistoric monument
A reveller interacts with a stone as people gather to celebrate the pagan festival of ‘Winter Solstice’ at Stonehenge
The solstices are the only occasions when visitors can go right up to the stones at Stonehenge, and thousands are willing to rise before dawn to soak up the atmosphere
In a paper published in the journal Archaeology International, researchers from University College London and Aberystwyth University said the site on Salisbury Plain, about 80 miles southwest of London, may have had political as well as spiritual significance.
That follows from the recent discovery that one of Stonehenge’s stones – the unique stone lying flat at the center of the monument, dubbed the ‘altar stone’ – originated in Scotland, hundreds of miles north of the site.
Some of the other stones were brought from the Preseli Hills in southwest Wales, nearly 240 150 miles to the west.
Lead author Mike Parker Pearson from UCL’s Institute of Archaeology said the geographical diversity suggests Stonehenge may have served as a ‘monument of unification for the peoples of Britain, celebrating their eternal links with their ancestors and the cosmos.’
