The changing daylight hours thread

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 Metwatch WHOOT WHOOOOOT!!

[Scuba steve]

Happy days a pleasant 13 c in the odd bits of sunshine earlier a real spring like feel though could be a faux ,guess in time we’ll know 

[Maz]

Hi,

I posted back at end October of the importance to me of the first day, normally in February, when I go outside and feel some warmth in the sun once again.  Today was that day. Many little signs of spring too and increase in day length is really notable.  The pendulum has swung….

Edited February 2 by Maz

[ManiaMuse]

Sunset past 5pm now. Making progress, even on the cloudy days. 

 

[Summer8906]

I'm waiting for the dull weather to end; due to the persistent dull weather this month it feels like the increase in evening daylight has ground to a halt.

If there is bright weather any time soon I suspect there'll be a real and noticeable difference.

Mornings noticeably lighter though, even in the dull weather.

Edited February 8 by Summer8906

[cheeky_monkey]

 ManiaMuse sunset is past 5.30pm here now ..sunrise is still past 8am though 

[damianslaw]

Despite the low point of daylight in the afternoon being nearly 2 months ago now on the 12 Dec, today has felt every bit a dark day before christmas. Low light levels all day and very drab.. mid Feb marks a notable change in feel though as we shake off the bleak dark days.. 

[Summer8906]

Struggling here too to notice any significant increase in evening daylight yet, though ironically, mornings seem a lot lighter than a few weeks ago even though there has been less gain in the morning. It's properly light at 8am every day, but frequently semi-dark by 4.30pm, yet by the solar noon (around 12.20) it "ought" to be lighter at 4.30pm than 8am. I guess we've just had a lot of instances of the worst weather being in the late afternoon, causing the afternoons to feel very dark.

Still completely dark at 6pm most days, in drier Februaries you start noticing 6pm twilight by now. Hard to believe that in less than 2 months (but sadly one week later than last year) we'll be onto long, light evenings.

This afternoon wasn't quite as gloomy as a Dec afternoon, but comparable to mid-Jan, and that has been typical this week.

 

Edited February 9 by Summer8906

[SummerShower]

First time there has been some light at 5.30pm.  Probably down to the first time this month we've had any susnhine!

[lassie23]

Be dark at 10pm soon woohooo

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 SummerShower I noticed this!! The chickens didn't go to bed til 530!

 lassie23 Later please I got gardening to do ...

[lassie23]

 *Stormforce~beka* you need to move to Scotland for later lol

[damianslaw]

Decent light levels until near 5.30pm, definately feeling the change now. On clear afternoons, it will soon be 6pm before we see notable light dimming. I feel a corner has been turned, the move out of mid winter and into late winter and with it the early spring stirrings, despite the weather having a habit of bringing every bit our wintriest weather of the year.

[RJBingham]

Civil Twilight 6:30am here tomorrow, the darkness is slowly being banished to the other side of the planet. 

[damianslaw]

Beginning to see a marked 'drawing out of the nights'... today still just enough light at 6pm to not need a torch in clear skies. 

[Summer8906]

Even with the extremely unsettled weather this month, the increase in daylight has been very noticeable since around mid-month. Seemed to be a slow start (early Feb was "dark" compared to normal) but very noticeable now.

Basically light(ish) throughout the 5-6pm hour and last night with clear skies daylight was detectable as late as 6.50pm.

 

Edited February 25 by Summer8906

[Metwatch]

On 02/02/2024 at 15:32, Metwatch said:

About 25% of the lawn in the garden is also seeing the sun compared to virtually none of it during December.

By the end of February sun will be about 30 degrees high. Sunset is also after 17:00 here from next Tuesday.

Sunrises are now before 7am, and less than 2 weeks until sunsets are after 6pm. Daylength will be over 11 hours by the end of this week as well. Half of the lawn in the garden is now under sunshine during solar noon. Brighter and warmer days are fast approaching.

UV on the rise now as well shown on the Temis.nl site:

Edited February 27 by Metwatch

[cheeky_monkey]

 Metwatch sunset here is already at 6.10pm..clocks go forward here on 10th March sunset will then be past 7.30pm

[damianslaw]

On clear days, light levels linger after 6pm, whereas days such as today with rain and low cloud mean light levels diminish rapidly by half 5. We are in that transition period, but until the clocks go forward it remains the 'dark' part of the year. I find March very frustrating as someone who tends to finish work by 6pm, there is just not enough light to make use of the early evenings. 

Edited February 28 by damianslaw

[cheeky_monkey]

clocks go forward here on Sunday morning at 2am 

[Metwatch]

Officially in the post 6pm sunsets period now but on days like today doesn't feel that much different to a day in winter.

Edited March 10 by Metwatch

[damianslaw]

 Metwatch Its a see saw period until the clocks go forward, on days like today, still a late winter feel, on clear days, no winter feel.

Edited March 10 by damianslaw

[cheeky_monkey]

clocks went forward yesterday ..so still light at 8pm and still dark at 8am 

[Wynn D Woo]

 cheeky_monkey  you are very lucky - why we have to wait until the end of march to move forward I have no idea.

Very much looking forward to getting the light back after work and be able to do things outdoors...

[ChillyJuju]

 Wynn D Woo It makes sense really because the first day of Spring is marked by the vernal equinox (Spring Equinox) which this year is March 20th, 2024 and the clocks go forward 11 days after.

Thus for us in Europe:

 

Spring is deemed to start at the Vernal Equinox (near 20 March)

Summer at the Summer Solstice (near 21 June)

Autumn at the Autumn Equinox (near 23 September)

Winter at the Winter Solstice (near 22 December).

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/when-does-spring-start

In 2024 the clocks go forward on 31 March at 1am.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/when-do-clocks-go-forward