Shorter days, longer nights: Winter Solstice is here!

Did your Thursday workday seem a little shorter? Perhaps your nights felt a little longer?

That’s because Thursday (20 June) marked the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere and officially the start of astronomical winter.

It’s not about the day being shorter in terms of its 24-hour duration but rather that there was the least amount of daylight all year.

In Cape Town, the sunset was at 5.44 pm on Thursday and rose at 7.51 am on Friday (10 hours and 49 minutes).

In Johannesburg, the sunset was at 5.24 pm on Thursday and rose at 6.54 am on Friday (11 hours and 20 minutes).

Every day from now on the sun will start rising earlier and setting later.

Happy winter solstice everyone!