Winter Solstice at Stonehenge 2022 - all you need to know
It's that time of year once again!
Up to 4,000 people are expected at Stonehenge first thing tomorrow morning (Thursday 22nd December) - for Winter Solstice.
They'll be seeing in the end of the longest night at the famous Wiltshire stone circle, with sunrise at 8.09am.
The weather forecast for the event is not looking good, with anyone going there encouraged to wear plenty of layers, pack wet weather gear and sensible shoes.
Visitors are also urged to use public transport, where possible - with special shuttle bus services running from Salisbury and Amesbury once again early tomorrow morning.
National Highways is asking people to plan their journey ahead, as they will be putting a 40 mile per hour speed restriction on the A303 through the World Heritage Site for safety reasons.
John Ingram, National Highways’ South West Resilience Planner, said:
“As we’ve done for previous solstice events, traffic management will be in place for safety and to keep disruption to a minimum, and we advise all road users to check our traffic and travel information channels, plan their journeys and allow plenty of time.”
Timings on the morning
Car parks at the Stonehenge visitor centre will open at 6.00am, with a fee of £5 for cars and minibuses and £2 for motorbikes.
Shuttle buses will take visitors up to the monument field, or it's a walk of around half an hour.
The monument field itself will open at 7.45am, for sunrise at 8.09am.
If you don't fancy going up to Stonehenge in person, the sunrise for Winter Solstice will also be live streamed by English Heritage.
The site must be cleared by 11.00am, to allow for clean-up, ahead of reopening to the public later in the day.
Why is Winter Solstice important?
Head of Historic Properties at Stonehenge for English Heritage, Scott Ashman says it's a huge event in their calendar:
"Stonehenge was built over 4,500 years ago and one of the theories is that it's along the Solstice alignment for both summer sunrise and winter sunset. It' a great celebration and brings so many people together who want to mark that single reason during the morning."
We expect Solstice to fall on December 21st, but Scott says it's actually flexible:
"Because of the mismatch between the calendar year and the solar year, the December Solstice is not fixed to a specific date. We work with the pagan and druid community, who we consult on the date that we will celebrate Solstice, and that's how we've come to the 22nd."