Evenings across the UK are set to get brighter from tonight, with the sun setting at around 5.04pm, providing approximately 9 hours and 18 minutes of daylight. This marks the beginning of a trend where sunset times will push later almost every day for months, leading to brighter evenings through to summer.
Astronomy data indicates that the sunset will continue to get later by a few minutes each day. For instance, in Preston, the sunset time will jump from around 5.04pm today to about 5.20pm by mid-February. This pattern is observed across the UK as the country moves away from the darkest part of winter.
The primary reason for this change is Earth's tilt. Scientists explain that seasons and daylight variations occur because Earth is tilted on its axis while orbiting the Sun. After the winter solstice in December—the shortest day of the year—daylight slowly increases as the Northern Hemisphere begins tilting back toward the Sun.
The UK will continue to gain daylight until the summer solstice in late June, which is the longest day of the year. After that, daylight begins to shrink again, with evenings becoming darker by October. The word solstice comes from Latin, meaning the Sun appears to 'stand still' before reversing direction in the sky.
There is also a phenomenon called seasonal lag, where land and oceans take time to warm up despite increasing daylight, meaning the coldest weather often arrives weeks after the shortest day. Nevertheless, the trend is clear: people in the UK can expect later sunsets, longer evenings, and more daylight each day.
