Happy Solstice! Official time off the solstice today is at 3.54pm GMT when the north pole of the earth is maximally inclined towards the Sun.

In the north of Scotland we currently experience over 18 hours of daylight and no true night at all, as the Sun dips a mere -8 degrees below the horizon at its lowest point at 1.20am.

Official sunset time today is 22.20pm when the Sun will be at its greatest setting extremity towards the North.  This is where the term Solstice comes from, Sol -Sistere, or Sun Standstill.  The point when the Sun reaches its maximum declination in the sky or its furthest rising and setting points north of east and west on the horizon.

The situation is reversed for out friends in the Southern hemisphere of the planet who are currently marking the winter solstice.