Morecambe to get 17 hours of sunlight on 2019’s longest day
The summer solstice marks the occasion when one of the Earth’s poles has its maximum tilt towards the sun, creating the longest day of the year.
It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere.
Sunrise in Morecambe was at 4.38am, and the sun will drop behind the hills across the bay at 9.48pm, giving Morecambe a total of 17 hours and 10 minutes of sunlight, 32 minutes more than the UK average.
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Hide AdIn terms of daylight, this day is 8 hours, 49 minutes longer than on December Solstice.
The forecast is bright sunshine for much of the day and into the evening.
In most locations north of Equator, the longest day of the year is around this date.
If you’re not in the Morecambe area but want watch the world-renowned sun set over the bay before the days start to get shorter, you can see it live on Morecambe’s brand new webcam.
The link is HERE
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Hide AdAlso known as midsummer (although, confusingly, it marks the start of the season by the astronomical calculation), the year’s longest day has held huge significance for many cultures since prehistory.
Many of the early festivals and rituals attached to the solstice from around the world still exist to this day.
The iconic image of druids gathering at Stonehenge has become synonymous with the summer solstice, which has been associated with paganism for thousands of years.
Known by pagans as Litha, the solstice marks the only day that the rising run reaches the middle of the stones when shining on the formation’s central altar, and draws large crowds each year.