Summer solstice 2022: Total daylight hours and sunset time in Leeds on longest day of the year

For those who enjoy basking in the sun, the longest day of the year is an opportune day to head out and enjoy the hot weather.

As per the Met Office, the sun will set at 9:41pm, having risen at 4:35am, giving people 17 hours and six minutes of light.

The summer solstice also marks the shortest night of the year, with the reason being that the Earth's north pole has its maximum tilt towards the sun,

As a result of this, the northern hemisphere receives more sunlight and and the closer people are to the north pole, the more sunlight they will experience on the day of the summer solstice.

Conversely, those in the southern hemisphere will experience their shortest day of the calendar year.

The solstice is sometimes known as 'midsummer' despite officially being the first astronomical day of summer, as days begin to get shorter after the day has passed.

It is the opposite of the winter solstice, which generally falls around 21 December, and marks the start of the astronomical season and longest night of the calendar year.

Although Leeds can expect more daylight on 21 June than any other day of the year, they cannot expect quite as much as Iceland.

According to the Met Office, the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik can expect over 21 hours of daylight.

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There are several spots around the UK which people flock to in order to celebrate the summer solstice, with one of the most popular being Stonehenge.

More than 6,000 gathered there this morning to watch the sunrise and it was the first time since 2019 that the stone circles had been made open to the public for the solstice.