The winter solstice, the official start of winter, will occur at 4:21 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21. For those north of the equator, which is all of the United States, the solstice marks the shortest day in terms of sunlight and the longest night of the year.

On this day the sun will be at its lowest point in the sky, resulting in the least amount of daylight. This happens because the northern half of the Earth is tilted its farthest away from the sun due to the planet's axis.

The Northern Hemisphere will see less than 12 hours of daylight while the southern half of the Earth, which is beginning its summer, will have daylight for longer than 12 hours, according to NASA.

This causes shorter days and a drop in temperature, and it officially marks the start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

On the other hand, those south of the equator will see the longest day of the year - known as the summer solstice.

The winter solstice begins on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 4:21 a.m., according to TimeandDate.

Daylight Saving Time has been a controversial topic of late, with President-elect Donald Trump vowing to end standard time and continue Daylight Savings Time. In the coming year, Daylight Savings Time starts on March 9, 2025 and will end on Nov. 2, 2025. This means that we will turn our clocks an hour forward in March 9 at 2 a.m.

Then in November, we will turn our clocks an hour backwards at 2 a.m.

Vanessa Countryman is the Trending Topics Reporter for the the Deep South Connect Team Georgia. Email her at [email protected].