The Summer Solstice is on its way, taking place on what we call the longest day of the year, and Maldon will be one the first towns to see it occur.

The Summer Solstice occurs when one of the earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the sun, so therefore it reaches its highest position in the sky and is the day with the longest period of daylight.

In 2021, this day will be Monday June 21 and it is interesting to note the difference in times for sunrise and sunset across the country.

Nub News has websites in towns across England and Wales, and the hours of daylight differ significantly between them.

For instance, our town furthest to the east is Felixstowe, where sunrise will be at 4.34am and sunset at 9.18pm, closely followed by the Shotley peninsula and then Hadleigh.

However in Falmouth , which is the furthest west town that has a Nub News site, sunrise will not be until 5.10am and sunset at 9.33pm.

For Maldon, sunrise will be at 4.38am and sunset at 9.19pm.

Since pre-history, the summer solstice has been seen as a significant time of year in many cultures, and has been marked by festivals and rituals.

Traditionally, the summer solstice is seen as the middle of summer and referred to as "midsummer". Today, however, in some countries and calendars it is seen as the beginning of summer.

In 2021 the Summer Solstice, which is a one-off time on the longest day and not the whole day itself, will happen at 4.31am so before dawn for most of the UK.

Thank you to the website timeanddate.com for the times included in this article.