It's very slight, but it's happening
Image via PixabayIf the short days and dark evenings have been getting you down, don't worry because the grand stretch is officially on it's way back.
We know what you're thinking, the Winter Solstice , a.k.a the shortest day of the year, doesn't happen until the 21st of December - so how can this be?
Well, yesterday Twitter account @thegrandauldsthretch awakened to remind us all that sunset was a whopping 2 seconds later than the day before.
Today is 2021-12-14, the sun sets at 16:05:46 and the grand auld stretch tonight was 00 mins and 02 secs. #TheGrandStretchIsBack
— The Grand Auld Stretch (@theauldsthretch) December 14, 2021
But we're only talking about the sun setting here, and not what time the sun rises.
It's really quite complicated but it's explained perfectly here.
But here's a quick snippet from the website to help:
Isn't the winter solstice the shortest day of the year?
Yes. It is. [Well… it's the day of the least amount of sunlight!]
Normally the solstice is on the 21st December (in the northern hemisphere), but on the years before the leap year it takes place on the 22nd December.
That the earliest sunset takes place before the solstice is balanced by the latest sunrise taking place after the solstice.
The result is that the sunsets turn from getting earlier to getting later before the solstice, and the sunrises turn from getting later to getting earlier after the solstice.
It's a lot to take in, but we promise, the grand stretch is making a come back!
