The summer solstice has passed, officially marking the beginning of astronomical summer!

As of 09:42 am Sunday morning, summer is underway... in both meanings of the season. Meteorological summer already started on June 1st.

Not only this, but the solstice marks the longest day of the year. In fact, the solstice is over nine hours longer than the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice.

While metorological summer began on June 1st, and will last until August 31st, astronomical summer relies on the tilt of the Earth and its rotational axis, which will end on September 23rd, when the autumn equinox occurs.

This year, the solstice brings with it a split picture across the UK and Ireland. While parts of England will reach 30 °C, it's cooler further north in the UK, and a gloomy day of cloud over Ireland.

While it will be a hot one in places, it won't beat 2017's record for the hottest solstice which arrived in the midst of a heatwave and a high of 34.5 °C.