There are 771 days until Winter Solstice 2028, on Thursday, 21 December 2028 (Thursday). This page counts down to the day, explains what it is and how it is observed, and gives the dates for 2026, 2027 and 2028.
Try the tool: Countdown Timer — count down to Winter Solstice 2028 live, second by second.
Try the tool: Days Until Calculator — count the days until any date, including Winter Solstice.
When is Winter Solstice 2028?
Winter Solstice 2028 is on Thursday, 21 December 2028 — Thursday. That is 771 days from today (11 November 2026) — 110 weeks and 1 days, or about 25.3 months. It is a Seasonal observance.
How the countdown is worked out
The countdown is the number of days from today to the holiday's date: Thursday, 21 December 2028 minus 11 November 2026 is 771 days. The count is in calendar days — it counts the days you have to wait, not the number of midnights, and it does not count today. The countdown timer recomputes the number live, second by second, and the days until calculator does the same calculation for any date you choose. If the holiday is in a different time zone from you, the day starts at a different moment — but the date is the date, and the countdown is in days, so the time zone does not change the number.
What is Winter Solstice?
The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (around 21 December) — and the longest in the Southern Hemisphere. It marks the start of astronomical winter in the north.
How Winter Solstice is observed
It is marked by Yule and by festivals of light in many cultures, including Dongzhi in China and Yalda in Iran, where families gather on the longest night of the year.
How the date is worked out
Winter Solstice is on the same date every year — December 2028 — so the date never moves. The only thing that changes is the day of the week: Winter Solstice 2028 is a Thursday, Winter Solstice 2026 is a Monday.
Winter Solstice dates — 2026, 2027 and 2028
| Year | Date | Day of the week |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 21 December 2026 | Monday |
| 2027 | 21 December 2027 | Tuesday |
| 2028 | 21 December 2028 | Thursday |
Winter Solstice 2028 in the calendar
Winter Solstice 2028 is the 356th day of 2028 — a leap year of 366 days — and it falls in ISO week 51 of the year. There are 10 days left in the year after it, and 31 days in December 2028. In the Northern Hemisphere it is winter; in the Southern Hemisphere the seasons are reversed.
The week number matters more than people think: in business and government across Europe, dates are often given as week numbers, and the week number finder gives the ISO week for any date. The day-of-year number is used in astronomy, in logistics and in some payroll systems. And the days-left figure is the useful one for planning the rest of the year: after Winter Solstice 2028 there are 10 days — 1 weeks — left in 2028.
Planning for Winter Solstice 2028
771 days is 25 months — plenty of time to plan. If Winter Solstice means travel, book it now: fares and hotels are usually cheapest months in advance, and the popular dates sell out. If it means time off work, put the request in early, especially if the holiday falls on a weekday — Thursday is a working day for most people, so the day off needs to be booked. And if it means gifts or preparations, the countdown is long enough that a little planning each week is worth more than a rush in the last few days.
Winter Solstice 2028 falls on a Thursday — a weekday — so most people need to take the day off to mark it properly. Book the time off early, especially if the holiday is one people travel for: the days around a weekday holiday are among the busiest travel days of the year, and the fares rise as the date approaches.
The countdown in other units
The countdown to Winter Solstice 2028 is 771 days — which is 110 weeks and 1 days, 18504 hours, 1,110,240 minutes, or about 25.3 months. Of those 771 days, 551 are weekdays and 220 are weekend days — so if you are counting working days, there are 551 of them left before the holiday. The days between dates calculator works out the same numbers for any two dates, and the business days calculator counts the working days excluding public holidays.
Winter Solstice around the world
As a seasonal marker, this day is fixed by astronomy, not by any calendar or government: it is the equinox or the solstice, the day the Earth's tilt puts the Sun in a particular place. The date moves by a day from year to year (around 20–22 March, June, September and December), and it is marked by festivals and traditions around the world rather than by a public holiday.
Planning checklist for Winter Solstice 2028
| When | Task |
|---|---|
| Now | Put Thursday, 21 December 2028 in your calendar, with a reminder three months before. |
| Three months before | Book travel and request time off, if Winter Solstice means either — fares are usually cheapest this far out. |
| One month before | Buy gifts or make preparations, and confirm plans with family. |
| One week before | Check the date once more — the date is fixed — and finalise the plan. |
More countdowns
If you are counting down to Winter Solstice, you may also be counting down to Christmas Day 2028, New Year's Day 2028, Easter Sunday 2028. And for the same holiday in another year, see Winter Solstice 2026 and Winter Solstice 2028.
Frequently asked questions
When is Winter Solstice 2028?
Winter Solstice 2028 is on Thursday, 21 December 2028 (Thursday).
How many days until Winter Solstice 2028?
There are 771 days until Winter Solstice 2028 from 11 November 2026.
What day of the week is Winter Solstice 2028?
Winter Solstice 2028 is a Thursday.
When is Winter Solstice in 2026?
Winter Solstice 2026 is on Monday, 21 December 2026 (Monday).
Is Winter Solstice a public holiday?
Winter Solstice is widely observed, but whether it is a public holiday depends on the country — check your local calendar.
What is Winter Solstice?
The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (around 21 December) — and the longest in the Southern Hemisphere. It marks the start of astronomical winter in the north.
How many weeks until Winter Solstice 2028?
There are 110 weeks and 1 days until Winter Solstice 2028 — 771 days in total.
How many working days are left until Winter Solstice 2028?
Count the weekdays between today and the holiday: the business days calculator does it, excluding weekends and the public holidays you add. The countdown in other units above gives the weekday count for Winter Solstice 2028.
Sources
- IANA Time Zone Database, via Node.js Intl (
Intl.DateTimeFormatwithtimeZone) — offsets, daylight saving dates and local times in this article were worked out from the IANA database, not typed from memory. - TimeFlow's own time-zone data (
data/cities.ts,data/dst.ts), computed from the IANA database. - Holiday dates: TimeFlow's own holiday data (
data/holidays.ts). - TimeFlow's countdown timer and days until calculator — the live tools behind the countdown on this page.
- Time-zone and daylight saving rules are set by governments and can change. For flights, deadlines and meetings that cannot move, confirm the time with an official source.