Solar winter begins in Latvia, the quarter with the least daylight

Solar winter began in Latvia on 6 November. It is the quarter of the year with the smallest amount of sunlight. According to data published by the portal timeanddate.com, the period will last until 4 February. Throughout these three months, the duration of sunshine in Riga will be under nine hours a day.

The shortest day

The shortest day will be 21 December. The sun will rise in Riga at 9:00 and set at 15:43, so daylight will last only six hours and 43.5 minutes.

What comes next

The darkest quarter of the year will end 45 days after the winter solstice. Solar spring will start on 5 February and run until 6 May. During this period, day length will grow from just under nine hours to just under 16 hours.

Other ways of dividing the seasons

Seasons are defined in different ways. Astronomical autumn began this year on 23 September and will end with the winter solstice on 21 December. Astronomical winter will last until the spring equinox on 20 March.

Meteorological winter works differently. It begins when the average daily air temperature stays below zero for at least five days in a row, and its start is counted as the first of those days.

Last year, meteorological winter in Latvia began on 23 November. In 2024 it started on 4 December, and in 2022 and 2023 it began as early as 17 November.