When Is First Day of Winter (Northern Hemisphere) 2026?
First Day of Winter (Northern Hemisphere) 2026 falls on Monday, December 21, 2026.
First Day of Winter (Northern Hemisphere) 2026 falls on Monday, December 21, 2026 — a Monday. That is 59 days from today. The date is confirmed, so the only thing that moves is the countdown itself.
| Year | Date | Day of week |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Mon 21 Dec 2026 | Monday |
| 2027 | Tue 21 Dec 2027 | Tuesday |
| 2028 | Thu 21 Dec 2028 | Thursday |
| 2029 | Fri 21 Dec 2029 | Friday |
| 2030 | Sat 21 Dec 2030 | Saturday |
| 2031 | Sun 21 Dec 2031 | Sunday |
Why the day of the week moves
A date advances by one weekday each year, because 365 days is 52 weeks plus one day. In a leap year it advances by two, which is why the weekday occasionally jumps. Over the six years in the table above you can watch both patterns: the single-step years and the leap-year double step.
This matters more than it sounds if you are planning around a weekend. An event that lands on a Saturday this year may fall midweek in two years' time, which changes everything from travel to time off.
About First Day of Winter (Northern Hemisphere) 2026
The december solstice of 2026 falls on December 21, 2026 at 20:48 UTC — the astronomical start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere (summer below the equator).
Astronomically, this is the Sun at its southernmost point — winter begins in the north, summer in the south. It is also the day the tide of daylight turns: after the December solstice the change is barely minutes per week, then accelerates — the reason the weeks after a solstice feel darker (or lighter) faster than the solstice day itself.
Quick facts
| Exact moment (UTC) | December 21, 2026 · 20:48 |
|---|---|
| Event | December Solstice |
| Hemisphere note | Seasons flip in the Southern Hemisphere |