Exact start date of 'longer nights than days' in the UK

With chills in the airand leaves turning brown, it is clear that summer is drawing to a close. And with that comes the annual autumn equinox, set for next Monday, September 22.

This event signals the official beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, where day and night are almost exactly the same length. It also marks the exact moment when the Northern Hemisphere will start having longer nights than days, while the Southern Hemisphere enters a period of longer days than nights.

Dr Shyam Balaji, an astrophysics expert at King's College London, shed light on the phenomenon in an interview with the Mirror. He said: "The September equinox occurs on 22 September at 18:19 UTC. It marks the beginning of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and Spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

"On this day, Earth’s tilt of about 23.5 degrees aligns so that both hemispheres receive nearly equal hours of daylight and darkness. After the equinox, the Northern Hemisphere will move into longer nights than days, while the Southern Hemisphere transitions into longer days than nights."

Our four seasons are primarily due to Earth's orbital movements around the Sun. Equinoxes, which occur when the Sun evenly lights both hemispheres, herald the onset of spring and autumn.

Solstices, on the other hand, happen when Earth's tilt is at its extreme towards or away from the Sun, signalling the beginning of summer and winter. It's believed that early humans, keen observers of nature, identified these patterns long ago.

They noted these shifts while using the Sun to gauge time, which has led to our modern grasp of the seasons. The Met Office notes that this year's 'astronomical autumn' will span about three months and wrap up on Sunday, December 21.

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An update issued on August 26 explained: "The autumn equinox signals the point when the Northern Hemisphere begins to tilt away from the Sun, leading to shorter days and cooler temperatures. From this point, nights become longer than days until the winter solstice."

According to a previous Mirror report, it added: "The season often brings unsettled weather, especially later on, when Atlantic depressions can lead to stormy conditions and strong gales. These changes are part of the natural shift as the country prepares for winter."

Despite the longer nights, clocks in the UK will go back a few weeks later by one hour at 2am on the last Sunday of October, which is October 26. This will put the UK back on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), meaning days will feel shorter and nights longer - though you might get an extra hour's sleep.

Specialists at Royal Museums Greenwich explain: "Daylight saving, or summer time, is a mechanism to make the most of increased summer daylight hours in the Northern Hemisphere.

"...A campaign at the beginning of the 20th century successfully argued in favour of changing the clocks during the summer months to avoid wasting time in the morning."

Today, proponents argue that adjusting the clocks helps reduce energy consumption, encourages outdoor activities, and even decreases road accidents.

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However, critics suggest that darker mornings could pose safety risks or cause 'inconvenience' to certain workers. The experts add: "It’s an ongoing debate that strongly depends on people’s geographical location, occupation and lifestyle."

The UK will remain on GMT until March 29, 2026. At 1 am on this day, the clocks will revert to BST. Devices like computers and smartphones connected to the internet will automatically update to reflect this change.

However, if you'd like to mark it in your calendar, the Government offers a full list of future clock changes on its website.

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