You probably know that the winter solstice, which falls on Sunday, 21 December in 2025, is the shortest day of the year.

It marks the start of winter in the astronomical calendar, though the meteorological calendar always says winter starts on 1 December.

That discrepancy exists because the meteorological calendar, which has 365 days in a year, doesn’t quite map onto the astronomical calendar (365.2422 days a year). It’s also why the winter solstice doesn’t always fall on the same date.

But to be completely honest, I thought until recently that the term only referred to the duration of light on that day.

As it turns out, though, solstice is a distinct astronomical event, which The Met Office said “is a very specific moment which is over almost as soon as it has........

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