The countdown to Christmas is on which means the sun is setting earlier and earlier.
As the nights get longer, it means the winter solstice is almost upon us, which is the term used for the shortest day of the year.
This marks the day when the Earth's Northern Hemisphere is tilted furthest away from the sun and we receive the fewest daylight hours in a 24-hour period.
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It is a day celebrated by pagans for thousands of years and has a lot of traditions and rituals attached to it.
Even today, many people make the trip to one of the UK's oldest sites, Stonehenge to mark the shortest day.
The winter solstice usually occurs between December 20 and 23 - and we've taken a look at the exact date when it falls in 2021.
When is the Winter Solstice 2021?
This year the shortest day of 2021 falls on Tuesday, December 21 - and there are forecast to be less than eight hours of sunlight on this day.
The sun is predicted to rise at 8.25am and set at 3.54pm so it is estimated there will be around 7 hours and 29 minutes of daylight on this date.
After December 21, the days will gradually get longer until the summer solstice on Tuesday, June 21 2022.
How the winter solstice is celebrated and Christmas connection
The winter solstice is a major pagan festival, with rituals of rebirth having been celebrated for thousands of years.
Every year, people gather at Stonehenge to watch the sunrise on the shortest day.
Many traditions we now think of as being part of Christmas - including Yule logs, mistletoe and Christmas trees - have roots in the pagan celebration.
The priests of the ancient Celts, known as The Druids, used evergreen trees , holly and mistletoe as symbols of everlasting life during winter solstice rituals.
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