The weather may be unseasonably balmy, but today is the winter solstice - the shortest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere - and Google is marking the occasion with one of its special doodles.
The winter solstice marks the moment the sun is shining farthest to the south, directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. This year the solstice occurs on Tuesday December 22 at 04.49 GMT with the sun rising over Stonehenge in Wiltshire at 08.04.
The term 'solstice' derives from the Latin word 'solstitium', meaning 'Sun standing still'. On this day the Sun appears to stand still at the Tropic of Capricorn, before reversing its direction as it reaches its southernmost position as seen from the Earth.
In the Northern hemisphere the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, because it is tilted away from the sun, and receives the least amount of sunlight. In the UK, there will be just 7 hours and 49 minutes of daylight.
After today, the days will gradually get longer, leading up to the summer solstice on 21 June 2016. In the Southern Hemisphere, the opposite is true - today marks the longest day and shortest night of the year.
The winter solstice has been celebrated all over the world for thousands of years. During neolithic times, astronomical events were often used to guide activities such as the mating of animals, the sowing of crops and the monitoring of winter reserves of food.
However, it is perhaps best known as a pagan festival, and many of the traditions we now think of as being part of Christmas -including Yule logs, mistletoe and Christmas trees - have their roots in the pagan celebrations of winter solstice.
Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument located in Wiltshire, has become a place of pilgrimage at this time of year, as it is carefully aligned on a sight-line that points to the winter solstice sunset.
Google's doodle is a more generic celebration of winter. It depicts a snow globe, with a pair of ice skaters gliding round in circles, and snow falling softly onto pine trees.
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