Brits warned about truth after being told that 'the sun will set at 7pm next month'

If you've been hanging around on the internet in the past few days you might have come across the claim that, by as soon as next month, we'll be enjoying 7pm sunsets.

The days are long but the years are short, and the seasons soon come and go with alarming speed.

One day you're in the height of summer where the sun is high in the sky all day long, then in just a matter of weeks, it's all dull and gloomy and overcast.

We're still trudging through winter at the moment where the mornings don't start until later and by the time you're ready to head home from work, it's usually getting quite dark outside.

That's all set to change, however, as we draw further and further away from the shortest day in the year which in 2023 landed on 22 December.

X/@iamchriscoro

Meanwhile, the longest day of 2024 is going to be 20 June. So, as the inevitable passage of time spurs us ever onwards, the days will grow longer and the nights shorter.

However, the claims which crop up on social media around this time of year that we'll be ushering in the sunset at 7pm in February are a big load of baloney.

Sorry to rain on the parade of those who just want to see more sunshine again, but it's going to be a while before we're anywhere close to a 7pm sunset, and even when it comes it'll be due to a bit of a temporal cheat.

By the end of February, it'll be 5:40pm when the sun sets on that extra day we get because 2024 is a leap year, so that's nowhere near 7pm.

According to Sunset Times, it won't be right until the end of March that we get out 7pm sunset.

Getty Stock Photo

That owes much to the fact that the clocks go forward on 31 March, so that lost hour in the spring skips right by the 7pm threshold.

Basically, the sunset on 30 March is going to be around 6:31pm, but with the clocks changing right afterwards, the 31 March sunset will be around 7:33pm.

If you want to get your actual 7pm sunset then you'll have to wait until late September, with the Sunset Times estimating that on 21 September the sun will set at 7pm on the dot.

Don't worry gang, you'll still see more of the sun in the days to come.