Imogen James
Live reporter

It might be the shortest day of the year, but boy did we pack a lot into it. Today, we saw people gather across the UK to celebrate the winter solstice.

Hundreds headed to Stonehenge in Wiltshire to welcome in day break. Our livestream captured heart-warming moments, from a group of friends who have written their own song about the solstice, to an eight-year-old who got lost on the way to Stonehenge with her dad.

In Ireland, similar celebrations happened at the prehistoric monument of Newgrange, where attendees selected by a lottery were able to enter the Stone Age structure.

And we spared a thought for people in Shetland, who saw the latest sunrise and will face the earliest sunset at just 14:56 GMT.

Some people (like us in the London newsroom, a windowless basement) saw no sun at all - but I enjoyed watching the stream of people enjoying the day.

As we now face the longest night of the year, we step closer to spring and longer days - finally.

If you've enjoyed our coverage, we have more to read about the history of the winter solstice and the traditions of Stonehenge.

This page was written by me and edited by Jenna Moon.

Thanks for joining us.

Image source, EPA

Image source, PA Media

Sandie Coombs, from Cornwall, has been a practicing Druid for more than 20 years.

Coombs says "today is very special", as it marks "the promise of the light coming back."

She'll be participating in a ceremony at St Nectans Glen in Tintagel at dusk.

Druids celebrate because "everything's going to start getting brighter after this," she says. The participants will light candles one by one in a circle in the darkness.

"That represents the sun coming back. So we know next year we'll have our food, our warmth. It's very much in tune with nature."

Druidry is a pagan practice, and in modern day is a spiritual or religious movement that fosters a deep respect of the natural world.

Image source, Getty Images

Solstice celebrations won't end with the sunset. Thousands are expected to line the Brighton streets this evening for its 30th Burning the Clock parade.

Around 1,600 people will take part in the procession, which sees people walk through the city carrying hand-made paper lanterns.

It ends on the beach, where there's a large bonfire. Lanterns will be placed there "as a token of the year's end."

The ceremony was launched in 1993, and this year has a theme of "voyager" - a theme described by organisers as "reflecting on our own journeys" and inspired by astronomer Carl Sagan.

There's wind and rain forecast for this evening in Brighton, so wrap up warm if you're attending!

• Thousands expected for Burning the Clocks parade

Image source, Getty Images

We've seen some daylight hours in the UK today - but in regions furthest north the Sun hasn't risen at all.

Tromsø, a town in in the north of Norway, won’t get any daylight today. The Sun doesn’t rise that far north between the end of November and middle of January.

But zero daylight doesn’t mean Tromsø will get no light at all.

During this time, the Sun is below the horizon but its rays are still illuminating the sky from that position - this is called civil twilight.

To get total darkness in the winter you have to go all the way to the North Pole. There, the region is in total darkness for about 11 weeks in the year.

Image source, Getty Images

The longest night of the year is marked by different events and traditions in different parts of the world.

In Iran and Central Asia, many celebrate the Persian festival of Yalda, with families and friends gathering - often staying awake all night, to eat, drink and read poetry. Nuts and fruits, particularly red fruits such as watermelon and pomegranate, are traditionally eaten. The occasion celebrates the triumph of light over darkness.

In Ireland, people gather at Newgrange in County Meath. The mound is thought to be older than Stonehenge, dating from 3200 BC. A gap in the structure is positioned so that during the shortest days of the year the dawn sunlight illuminates an inner chamber.

And in China, the Dongzhi festival – which roughly translates as “winter’s arrival” – also celebrates the triumph of light over darkness on the winter solstice. It sees families get together to celebrate and share a meal with traditional foods, such as rice balls called Tang yuan.

Winter solstice happens when the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the Sun during the Earth’s orbit.

In the southern hemisphere it's the opposite story - the South Pole is pointing towards the Sun, making it summer in countries like Australia. People there will be celebrating their summer solstice today.

But even though this is the day with the fewest hours of daylight, the solstice does not mark the earliest sunset of the year, or the latest sunrise.

The mornings will continue darkening until early in the new year. That’s because a solar day is not always exactly 24 hours long.

There are two common ways to define seasons in the UK - meteorological and astronomical.

BBC Weather uses the meteorological calendar, where winter always begins on 1 December and ends on the last day of February.

Meteorologists use three-month periods to define the seasons. This makes year-on-year comparisons easier.

Winter is therefore defined in the northern hemisphere as the three coldest months - December, January and February.In the astronomical calendar, however, winter always begins on the winter solstice - or the shortest day.

This year, the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere is on 21 December, and therefore our astronomical winter begins today. It ends on 20 March 2025 with the spring equinox.

The start date of winter changes again depending on which calendar you follow: ancient Celtic and Irish calendars begin winter from 1 November.

Image source, PA Media

Imogen James
Live reporter

We're just past midday in the UK now. That means the sun is at its highest point in the sky, marking solar noon - also known as the meridian - in parts of the UK.

Here in London, that's happening now, at 12:05 GMT.

That also means we're halfway through today's daylight, so enjoy it while you can. Just remember - the days are getting a little brighter from here on.

Eight-year-old Georgia came to Stonehenge last night because she has been studying the monument at school.

Her dad told BBC News the pair got up at 06:00 GMT this morning to go and see the solstice.

She played games on her tablet during the drive over, and laughs as her dad tells our correspondent that they got lost on the way.

"It was really cool because me and my dad found loads of little finger prints or hammer marks when they hammered it," Georgia says.

She also thinks it was really cool that people were singing and chanting as the sun rose.

Image source, Getty Images

Stonehenge was built in several stages, according to English Heritage.

The charity says that the earliest known significant monument at the site was a circular ditch built around 3,000 BC. The ditch created an area about 100m in diameter with two entrances, and is considered an early form of ‘henge‘ – a prehistoric circular enclosure.

The site contains burials and pits thought to have been used to hold up wooden or stone structures.

Stonehenge’s immediate surrounding area has several pits, three of which may have held large "totem-poles" between 8,500 and 7,000 BC.

The stones associated with the site are now thought to have been placed there around 2,500 BC.

Image source, Getty Images

In countries like Australia, today is the summer solstice - the longest day of the year.

Like those making a trip to Stonehenge in the UK, some Australians will visit a stone monument to celebrate the solstice.

But unlike Stonehenge, the Standing Stones in Glen Innes Highlands, New South Wales were erected just three decades ago. The standing stones there weren’t manoeuvred into position by ancient communities, but were set up in 1992 as a monument to the Celtic heritage of some in Australia.

Visitors to the monument can walk through the circle - which is features 24 stones to represent the 24 hours in a day - and watch as the Sun rises through the gaps between the stones.

Image source, Reuters

Let's be honest, for a day all about the sun, it's a bit disappointing that we can't really see it. In London, it's overcast with occasional showers - and that appears to be a trend across the country.

Here's what the weather is looking like across the UK:

• There are yellow weather warnings for wind across all of mainland Scotland and its islands, apart from Shetland, as well as much of northern England and some of Northern Ireland, which could affect travel plans, the Met Office says
• It's somewhat mild for winter, with temperatures across the UK ranging from 12C in London to 7C in Aberdeen
• It's also a rainy day for Cardiff, Manchester, Belfast, Edinburgh and Inverness
• Flood alerts and warnings have also been issued across the UK - with most in England
• Tonight will see a mix of clear spells, patchy cloud and scattered blustery showers, and it will be very windy overnight

Image source, Getty Images

Laurie Goodlad, a tour guide on Shetland - where the latest sunrise in the country was this morning - says the darkness "bites harder up here in the North".

The most striking thing for her is "just how low the sun in the sky is, when you can see it obviously", she tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Living in the darker days "has its challenges. You do have to … gear yourself up for the darker days and you do need to be quite resilient", she says. "It's just a different way of life."

But she adds that the solstice is a day of hope, since the days will get longer now. The lengthening days won't be noticeable until the end of January, but Goodlad says she reflects on how people celebrated the day in the past.

To celebrate, Goodlad says she will "probably go out for a walk" and "try to believe that it is going to get lighter again soon."

We're going back now to Stonehenge, where crowds have gathered all morning to mark the solstice.

We're getting a look now at some pictures showing how people are celebrating the day. People wearing furs, red coats and donning face paint can all be seen taking in the atmosphere.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

As the clock strikes 09:21 GMT, it marks the official time of the solstice in the UK. That means that the Earth has reached its maximum tilt on its axis away from the Sun.

It also means that from here, the days will get progressively longer until the summer solstice in June. If you're growing tired of long nights and dark mornings, more daylight will be on the way in the weeks ahead.

Imogen James
Live reporter

Finally, Shetlanders are seeing some daylight.

They're behind the rest of the UK, as day has only just broken, with the sun rising at 09:08 GMT this morning.

The sun will set there at 14:58 GMT.

Amy, from London, is wearing a headdress made from ivy in her garden - a symbol of "the things that are green all through the winter... it's a symbol of life and growth carrying on."

She goes to winter solstice celebrations at Stonehenge every year.

Her friend says the celebration is "beautiful". The group started going five years ago "for the adventure," but it's since turned into a tradition because of "how moving it is to be here."

The group have even written a song about the solstice and treated our correspondent Fiona Lamdin to a snippet. The key lyric, the group explains, is: "we are nearer to spring that we were in September."

You can follow along with our live stream by clicking watch live at the top of the page.

Imogen James
Live reporter

Edinburgh is now seeing its first glimpse of daylight, as sunrise there today was at 08:42 GMT.

It'll be dark again in less than seven hours - enjoy it while you can!

Image source, Getty Images

In County Meath, Ireland, lies a mound much older than Stonehenge.

The prehistoric monument, called Newgrange, is more than 5,000 years old and features a 19m-long (62ft) passage.

It's believed to have been built by Stone Age farmers. The passage leads to a chamber with three alcoves.

The mound is surrounded by 97 large kerbstones - some are engraved with symbols.

During the winter solstice, the sun shines perfectly through an opening in the roof called a roof box, which slowly illuminates the entire corridor.

The central chamber glows for around 17 minutes. People flock to watch the event, with those allowed inside decided by a lottery.

Fear not if you can't make it: The sunrise also being livestreamed on the Heritage Ireland website. The sun is due to rise there just after 08:40 GMT.

Image source, Getty Images