The Winter solstice occurred today (December 21st) at 11:12 marking the end of the trend towards darker nights. The Winter solstice is the point at which the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky at noon (13.7°). In the Northern Hemisphere this is the Southern solstice, the time at which the Sun is at its southernmost point in the sky, which usually occurs on December 21st or 22nd each year.
The Winter solstice also marks the day with the shortest daylight hours. From tomorrow onwards, daylight will increase, but only by small amounts at first. Tomorrow will have three seconds more daylight than today. Daylight hours won’t increase by more than a minute a day until December 31st, when there will be one minute and five seconds more daylight than the day before.
Although small changes initially, they are welcomed by many people who see this as a sign that a corner has been turned and Spring is on the way.