The summer solstice today will give Britons their longest day of the year and shortest night, with a full 16 hours and 38 minutes of daylight in London.
At 21:51 BST this evening, the Northern Hemisphere will be at its most tilted towards the sun, marking the exact peak of the astronomical summer.
'Most planets have some tilt with respect to their orbits around the sun. The tilt of Earth is likely due to large collisions impacting the young Earth when it was forming in the early solar system.' - Dr. Daniel Bayliss, Warwick University.
'Our planet is tilted on its axis at an angle of 23.4 degrees, and as it orbits the sun sometimes the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun and sometimes it is tilted away.' - Jack Foster, Royal Observatory Greenwich.
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