Winter solstice 2023

The Winter solstice 2023 is on Friday, December 22, 2023 (in 23 days).  Calendar for 2023

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.

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 2023 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:

• Winter solstice on Wikipedia
• Solstices in general on Wikipedia

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

The Winter solstice 2024 is on Saturday, December 21, 2024 (in 388 days).  Calendar for 2024

Dates of the Winter solstice 2023 and surrounding years as downloadable image file