UK Daylight Hours: How Sunrise and Sunset Change Through the Year

When does it get dark in the UK?

It gets dark between about half an hour and an hour after sunset: quickest around the March and September equinoxes, slowest in midsummer, and slower the further north you are. In mid-December it is dark by about 4:30pm across the UK; in mid-June not until after 10pm in London and after 11pm in Edinburgh. When the clocks go back on Sunday 25 October 2026, London's sunset moves from 17:49 the day before to 16:47 the day after.

Sunset and dark on the 15th of each month (2026, UK clock time)

Month	London	Manchester	Edinburgh
January	16:21dark 16:59	16:20dark 17:01	16:11dark 16:56
February	17:16dark 17:50	17:19dark 17:56	17:17dark 17:55
March	18:05dark 18:38	18:13dark 18:48	18:16dark 18:53
April	19:57dark 20:33	20:10dark 20:47	20:19dark 21:00
May	20:46dark 21:28	21:03dark 21:48	21:19dark 22:09
June	21:20dark 22:07	21:40dark 22:32	22:01dark 23:03
July	21:11dark 21:56	21:30dark 22:19	21:49dark 22:44
August	20:23dark 21:00	20:37dark 21:17	20:49dark 21:33
September	19:15dark 19:49	19:25dark 20:00	19:30dark 20:08
October	18:07dark 18:41	18:13dark 18:48	18:12dark 18:50
November	16:11dark 16:48	16:12dark 16:51	16:05dark 16:47
December	15:52dark 16:32	15:49dark 16:32	15:38dark 16:25

Each cell shows sunset, then "dark": the end of civil twilight, when the sun is 6° below the horizon and it's too dark to read outdoors without light. Full astronomical darkness comes later. Calculated with the same formulas as our Sunrise & Sunset tool, which gives exact times for any UK location and date.

How Daylight Varies Across the UK

The further north you are, the more extreme the seasonal swing. On the summer solstice (around 21 June), London gets about 16 hours 38 minutes of daylight. Edinburgh gets 17 hours 37 minutes. Lerwick in Shetland gets almost 19 hours, and it never gets truly dark - there's a persistent twilight glow through the "night."

In winter, the pattern reverses. On the shortest day (around 21 December), London gets about 7 hours 50 minutes of daylight. Edinburgh gets just 6 hours 58 minutes. Lerwick manages only 5 hours 49 minutes of weak, low-angle sunlight.

The difference between summer and winter day lengths increases with latitude. In London, the difference between the longest and shortest day is about 8 hours 48 minutes. In Edinburgh, it's over 10 hours 39 minutes.

For your own town, see winter daylight in every UK town: a sortable table of shortest-day daylight, earliest sunset and the number of days with sunset before 4pm, for winter 2026-27.

The Solstices and Equinoxes

Four key dates mark the turning points of the year:

• Spring equinox (around 20 March) - day and night are roughly equal in length everywhere in the UK. After this date, days are longer than nights.
• Summer solstice (around 21 June) - the longest day. The sun reaches its highest point in the sky and is above the horizon for the maximum time.
• Autumn equinox (around 22 or 23 September; 23 September in 2026) - day and night are roughly equal again. After this, nights are longer than days.
• Winter solstice (around 21 December) - the shortest day. The sun barely climbs above the horizon and sets in mid-afternoon.

A common misconception is that the earliest sunset occurs on the winter solstice. In fact, the earliest sunset in the UK happens around 12-13 December, about a week before the solstice. The latest sunrise comes even later, around 30 December-2 January. The solstice is the shortest total daylight, but the sunrise and sunset times don't shift symmetrically.

Golden Hour for Photography

The golden hour is the period shortly after sunrise and before sunset when the sun is low in the sky, producing warm, soft, directional light that photographers love. The light is golden because it travels through more atmosphere at low angles, which filters out blue wavelengths.

In the UK, the duration of golden hour varies with the season:

• Summer: Golden hour lasts about 50-65 minutes after sunrise and before sunset: about 54 minutes in London and 64 in Edinburgh at midsummer.
• Winter: Golden hour can last 1-2 hours because the sun stays low in the sky for a longer portion of its arc. In December, the sun barely rises above 15° in southern England, meaning the light has a golden quality for much of the short day.
• Spring/Autumn: The shortest golden hours of the year, about 45 minutes in London and 50 in Edinburgh. Around the equinoxes the sun rises and sets at its steepest angle, so it climbs out of the golden zone fastest.

Use our Sunrise & Sunset tool to check exact golden hour times for any UK location and date. Arriving 15 minutes before the golden hour starts gives you time to set up and catch the full transition.

Blue Hour and Twilight

The blue hour is the period before sunrise and after sunset when the sky takes on a deep blue tone. It's shorter than golden hour - typically 20-40 minutes - and produces a completely different mood in photographs: cool, calm, and slightly eerie.

There are three types of twilight, defined by how far the sun is below the horizon:

• Civil twilight (sun 0-6° below horizon) - bright enough to do most outdoor activities without artificial light. This is around when many streetlights come on.
• Nautical twilight (sun 6-12° below) - the horizon is still visible at sea. The sky is dark enough to see bright stars but not fully dark.
• Astronomical twilight (sun 12-18° below) - the sky is dark enough for most astronomical observations. Full darkness begins when the sun drops below 18°.

Around midsummer the sun never gets 18° below the horizon anywhere in the UK, so there is no full astronomical darkness at all. In 2026 that stretch runs from about 22 May to 21 July in London, and from 1 June to 11 July even in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, the UK's most southerly points. Further north it is longer: Edinburgh has none from early May to early August. This is why astronomers in the UK do most of their observing between October and March.

How the Clocks Changing Affects Things

The UK switches to British Summer Time (BST, UTC+1) on the last Sunday in March, and back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT, UTC+0) on the last Sunday in October. The clock change doesn't alter the amount of daylight - it shifts when that daylight occurs relative to the clock.

The spring change ("spring forward") moves an hour of morning daylight to the evening. In London on Saturday 28 March 2026, sunrise was about 5:45am and sunset about 6:30pm. On the Sunday, sunrise was about 6:45am and sunset about 7:30pm. The extra evening light is why most people prefer summer time.

The autumn change ("fall back") does the reverse. You gain an hour of morning light but lose it in the evening. In London, sunset jumps from 5:49pm on Saturday 24 October 2026 to 4:47pm on the Sunday, which many people find dispiriting.

Daylight and Wellbeing

Reduced daylight in winter affects many people's mood and energy levels. The NHS describes seasonal affective disorder (SAD) as a type of depression that usually happens in the winter, thought to be linked to reduced levels of daylight, which may affect the brain chemicals that govern mood and sleep.

The NHS's self-care advice is to "get as much natural daylight as you can - try to go outside in the daytime every day".

Light boxes, sometimes called SAD lamps, are one treatment. The NHS says they aren't usually available on the NHS because there isn't enough evidence to tell whether they work, though many people find they help. It suggests speaking to a GP before trying one and choosing a lamp that is bright enough (10,000 lux is standard).

Planning Outdoor Activities Around Daylight

For walkers, runners, cyclists, and anyone who spends time outdoors, knowing the exact sunrise and sunset times for your location is practical, not just interesting.

• Winter walks: In December, sunset is around 3:50pm in most of England. If you're starting a 3-hour walk, you need to set off by 1pm at the latest. Many people underestimate how early it gets dark in midwinter.
• Summer evenings: In June, you have usable daylight until after 9pm in most of the UK, and even later in Scotland. This opens up weekday evening activities that are impossible in winter.
• Construction and outdoor work: Working hours for outdoor trades are directly constrained by daylight. A builder in December might get 6-7 productive hours of natural light, compared to 14+ hours in June.

Sunrise and Sunset Direction

The sun doesn't always rise in the east and set in the west - that's only true at the equinoxes. In summer, the sun rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest, sweeping a wide arc across the southern sky. In winter, it rises in the southeast and sets in the southwest, making a much shorter, lower arc.

This matters for property buyers (which rooms get morning or evening sun?), solar panel installers (optimal panel angle changes with season), gardeners (which parts of the garden are in shade?), and photographers (where exactly will the sun be at golden hour?).

Our Sunrise & Sunset tool shows the compass bearing for sunrise and sunset, so you can see exactly which direction the sun will appear from and disappear to on any given date.

Check Any Date and Location

All of these patterns vary by your exact location and the date. Use our tool to check precise sunrise, sunset, golden hour, and twilight times for anywhere in the UK on any date. Sun times are worked out in your browser, and there's no sign-up.