London hasn’t enjoyed a 5pm sunset since before the clocks went back on October 29, 2023. On the one hand, that’s a pretty sickening thought; but at the same time: congratulations! You’ve survived that treacherous spell for another year.
Tonight, 2024 is welcoming its first 5pm sunset of the year in London, meaning you can swivel out of the office and into the pub without streetlights being a complete necessity. This is, essentially, a handy code for ‘get the sunglasses and shorts out – it’s summer (nearly)’.
Are we jumping the gun there? Sure, but the point is this: it’s smooth(er) sailing from here, at least until daylight savings rears its head once more later this year, but let’s try not to think about that one for now…
It’s February and, according to tracking site Time And Date, tonight sees the sunset hours turning a corner, with the sun not setting until 5.01pm. That means we now only have to last until the end of March before we get treated to the beauty of the 7pm sunset, thanks to the clocks going forward.
And look, if we’re being honest – we still think 5pm is far too early for the sun to set. Sure, it’s unrealistic to ask for daylight until 9pm all year round, but it’d be nice if there was some kind of happy medium. Surely there’s some way to make it possible for us to go to and from work while it is light, rather than losing daytime light hours to the 9-5 and travelling under the cover of darkness…
But while that negotiation with the weather conductors rages on, we’ll take this as the first sign that summer is on the horizon and the cold and dark months will, in fact, end. Godspeed, and cling on to that idea of sitting on a beach later this year.
Keep up to date with London’s sunrises and sunsets here!