The June solstice: midsummer in the north, midwinter in the south

The Sun stands still

The word solstice comes from Latin for sun standing still. For some days around the event the Sun's noon height barely changes, then it turns back. At this solstice the Sun is directly overhead along the Tropic of Cancer, and the northern hemisphere is tilted toward it as far as it ever gets.

That tilt is why light is so different at either end of the planet. Beyond the Arctic Circle the Sun does not set at all, giving polar day, while south of the Antarctic Circle it never rises, giving polar night.

Two hemispheres, two seasons

If you live in the north, expect the longest daylight of the year, though the hottest weather usually comes weeks later because land and sea take time to warm. If you live in Brazil or elsewhere in the south, the same moment is the first day of winter and the day with the least sunlight.

Meteorologists start summer or winter on 1 June, a tidy month boundary, while astronomers wait for the solstice itself. Both are useful, but they answer different questions.

Midsummer and midwinter traditions

• Midsummer. Sweden and Finland dance around flower-decked poles and stay up in the bright night.
• Stonehenge. In England the monument is aligned with the solstice sunrise, and crowds gather to watch the Sun rise over the Heel Stone.
• Inti Raymi. On 24 June in Cusco, Peru, the Festival of the Sun honours the Inca sun god at the start of the southern winter. The present-day staging dates from 1944 and recreates the old ceremony.
• Bonfire nights. Spain, Portugal and Brazil light midsummer fires around this time; see San Juan night and the Festa Junina pages.

In astrology

Astrologers connect this moment with the Sun entering Cancer, the sign of home and family. It is a tradition and not an astronomical fact, since the constellations have shifted since that system was set. Next, the days shorten in the north until the September equinox. The full set of turning points is on the equinoxes and solstices hub.