❄️How Many Days Until Winter?

✓ Tested & verified Updated: Aug 5, 2026 How we calculate this

Astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere begins around December 21–22, at the winter solstice

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When exactly is Winter?

Astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere begins around December 21–22, at the winter solstice. The live counter above shows exactly how many days, hours, minutes and seconds remain until the next one, worked out in your own time zone.

Astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere begins at the winter solstice, around December 21–22 — the shortest day and longest night of the year.

After the solstice, days slowly grow longer again, which is why many ancient cultures celebrated it as the ‘rebirth’ of the sun. Meteorological winter is defined as December, January and February.

Upcoming dates

Year	Date	Day of week
2026	December 21, 2026	Monday
2027	December 21, 2027	Tuesday
2028	December 21, 2028	Thursday
2029	December 21, 2029	Friday
2030	December 21, 2030	Saturday

Frequently asked questions

When is Winter?

Astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere begins around December 21–22, at the winter solstice.

Is the winter solstice always on December 21?

Not exactly — it falls on December 21 or 22 (rarely December 20 or 23), because the astronomical year is about 365.25 days long and shifts slightly against the calendar until leap years correct it.

How we calculate this

The countdown runs live in your browser and updates every second against your device clock, so it is always correct for your own timezone. The target is the next occurrence of Winter (Astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere begins around December 21–22, at the winter solstice). Dates for fixed holidays follow the civil calendar; dates for moveable events are taken from the official published dates listed on this page.