Winter solstice 2025


When is the Winter solstice 2025?

The Winter solstice 2025 is on Sunday, December 21, 2025 (in 186 days).  Calendar for 2025
Please note: The dates given on this page are based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which for practical purposes is equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). While the Winter solstice occurs at the same moment in time all over the world, the date and local time differ from location to location depending on a location's time zone. For more details see the explanations below.
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What is the Winter solstice?

Sunrise on the day of the winter solstice. The longest night is over. Photo: flickr.com/photos/orionpozo/5292325273Sunrise on the day of the winter solstice. The longest night is over.
A winter solstice is the moment in time when the Earth's tilt away from the Sun is at its maximum and the Sun's maximum elevation in the sky is at its lowest.

A winter solstice occurs twice a year, once in December in the Northern Hemisphere (also called December solstice and Midwinter) and once in June in the Southern Hemisphere (also called June solstice).

In the Northern Hemisphere the day of the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year (the day with the least daylight and the longest night) and occurs every year between December 20 and December 23. The dates given on this page are based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which for practical purposes is equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT, the time the United Kingdom is on during the winter, when it isn't on summer time). While the winter solstice occurs at the same moment in time all over the world, the date and local time differ from place to place depending on the year and a location's time zone. For locations that are ahead of UTC (further east) it may fall on the day after, and for locations that are behind UTC (further west) it may fall on the day before. To find out the exact date and time of the winter solstice 2025 in your area use this seasons calculator.

The winter solstice marks the end of autumn and the beginning of winter in the hemisphere where it occurs and is one of four days (two equinoxes and two solstices) throughout the year on which a new season starts. The other days are the vernal equinox (also called spring equinox, beginning of spring), the summer solstice (beginning of summer) and the autumn equinox (also called fall equinox, beginning of autumn).

Further reading:

Overview: seasons, equinoxes and solstices

Dates shown apply to the Northern Hemisphere and are based on UTC (GMT)
Season Start End
Spring Spring equinox
(vernal equinox, March equinox)
March 19 to 21
Summer solstice
(June solstice)
June 20 to 22
Summer Summer solstice
(June solstice)
June 20 to 22
Autumn equinox
(Fall equinox, September equinox)
September 21 to 24
Autumn
(Fall)
Autumn equinox
(Fall equinox, September equinox)
September 21 to 24
Winter solstice
(December solstice)
December 20 to 23
Winter Winter solstice
(December solstice)
December 20 to 23
Spring equinox
(vernal equinox, March equinox)
March 19 to 21

When is the Winter solstice 2026?

The Winter solstice 2026 is on Monday, December 21, 2026 (in 551 days).  Calendar for 2026

Dates for the Winter solstice in other years

The next occurrence of the Winter solstice is marked in red.

When is ...? Date      Day of the week      Days away     
Winter solstice 2020      December 21, 2020      Monday      1639 days ago
Winter solstice 2021      December 21, 2021      Tuesday      1274 days ago
Winter solstice 2022      December 21, 2022      Wednesday      909 days ago
Winter solstice 2023      December 22, 2023      Friday      543 days ago
Winter solstice 2024      December 21, 2024      Saturday      178 days ago
Winter solstice 2025      December 21, 2025      Sunday      in 186 days
Winter solstice 2026      December 21, 2026      Monday      in 551 days
Winter solstice 2027      December 22, 2027      Wednesday      in 917 days
Winter solstice 2028      December 21, 2028      Thursday      in 1282 days
Winter solstice 2029      December 21, 2029      Friday      in 1647 days
Winter solstice 2030      December 21, 2030      Saturday      in 2012 days
Data provided 'as is' without warranty

Winter solstice 2025
Dates of the Winter solstice 2025 and surrounding years as downloadable image file

Printable 2025 Calendars for PDF, Excel and Word


Calendar templates 2025 for PDF, Excel and Word

Free printable 2025 calendar templates

A selection of downloadable, printable calendar templates for 2025 with US federal holidays, suitable for a variety of applications. Available for PDF, Excel and Word.


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Dates of other holidays, events and celebrations

See events index