The nights are getting longer, and soon the sun will set before 8pm
The longer summer days are slowly starting to dwindle(Image: Richard Baker / In Pictures via Gatty Images)
While London’s hot summer days are showing no signs of letting up, the nights are starting to creep in that much sooner. June 21 was the longest day of the year, with sunset falling earlier and earlier with each passing day.
The capital is currently still bright late into the evening, but we’ll soon see less daylight than in previous weeks. The sun will set after 8pm for the final time in 2026 on August 26, according to Time and Date.
Thankfully, the weather is set to remain very warm until then, with highs of 36C forecast next week, so there’s still plenty of time to catch some rays after work. Summer is officially over on August 31, according to the Met Office.
Look west from the South Bank for a great sunset(Image: Mike Kemp/Getty Images)
However, in astronomical terms, the season continues until the autumn equinox on September 23. This is one of two points in the year when the Sun illuminates the northern and southern hemispheres equally.
This means day and night are nearly equal in length, and signals the start of autumn. This also marks the final 7pm sunset of the year, which is due to happen on September 21.
Days will continue to get shorter by 2 minutes each day until the winter solstice, which occurs on December 21. This is the quickest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
But, before then, the clocks will go back at 2am on October 26, meaning the days get even darker. The UK will then be on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), the average time of day when the Sun crosses the Prime Meridian at The Royal Observatory.
When the clocks go forward, we’re in British Summer Time, and there’s more daylight in the evenings and less in the mornings. This is also sometimes called daylight saving time.
The idea was first mentioned in 1784 by Benjamin Franklin, the American inventor, scientist and Founding Father. However, it wasn’t until 1907 that a serious proposal was made in Britain by builder William Willett.
It’s thought he was annoyed his golf games would be interrupted by the sun going down, and so he began campaigning to change the law. The first official instance of clocks changing was implemented by Germany in the spring of 1916 to conserve energy.
The UK did the same a few weeks later, along with many other nations involved in the First World War.
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