THE start of summer will officially begin tomorrow with the longest day of the year – where one UK town won’t see nightfall.
Summer solstice celebrations are set to take place across the Northern Hemisphere.
Lerwick, the main town of the Shetland islands, will see almost 19 hours of daylight tomorrow (June 21) as the Northern Hemisphere celebrates the summer solstice.
Located closer to the Arctic Circle than London, night will fall for just five hours on the UK’s most northerly town.
Residents will not experience complete dark either, as the sun will remain just below the horizon, creating an effect which residents have named “da simmer dim”.
This summer twilight means that light lingers well beyond midnight, with a light blue hue visible across the sky throughout the night.
Lerwick, translating to “Bay of Clay”, is a busy fishing town with just 7,000 residents year-round.
Despite the summer twilight, the island only sees around 1,158 hours of sunshine – around 13 per cent – a year and August remains its warmest month with an average temperature of 14° C.
On the day of the winter solstice (December 21), the town will receive just five hours and 49 minutes of daylight.
Packed with narrow winding streets, stone cottages and prehistoric settlements, the remote location can be typically reached via ferries from Aberdeen.
The summer solstice marks the Northern Hemisphere’s longest day of the year as well as the official start of astronomical summer.
It occurs when the earth’s axis is tilted at its closest point from the sun, with many countries marking the occasion with midsummer celebrations.