When is the Summer Solstice?

Summer Solstice 2013

In the Northern Hemisphere the date of the 2013 Summer Solstice is 21 June at 05.04 UTC

In the Southern Hemisphere the date of the 2013 Summer Solstice is 21 December at 17:11 UTC

Countdown to the Summer Solstice

There are 27 days until the Summer Solstice.
There are 650 hours until the Summer Solstice.

What is the Summer Solstice?

At the time of the Summer Solstice the Sun reaches its highest point in Earth's sky. It's at this time that the Sun takes the longest amount of time to cross the sky, giving us the longest day of the year.

The Summer Solstice is caused by the tilting of the Earth's axis so that the north pole is nearest the Sun.

The date of the Summer Solstice marks the start of the summer. After this date the days grow shorter until the Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year.

The name "Solstice" comes from the Latin for "Sol" (sun) and "sistere" (to stand still). The name solstice was given to this time of the year because the Sun appears come to a stand still in its movement north or south.