When does winter start?
Astronomical winter in the northern hemisphere, including Saudi Arabia, begins at the winter solstice, when the Sun is at its lowest in the sky and the day is the shortest of the year. In Riyadh time this falls on 21 or 22 December.
The other seasons also begin at precise astronomical moments:
| Season | Begins at | Usual date |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | March equinox | 20 or 21 March |
| Summer | June solstice | 20 or 21 June |
| Autumn | September equinox | 22 or 23 September |
| Winter | December solstice | 21 or 22 December |
Upcoming starts in Riyadh time
| Season | Starts |
|---|---|
| Winter 2026 | Monday 21 December 2026, 23:50 |
| Spring 2027 | Saturday 20 March 2027, 23:25 |
| Summer 2027 | Monday 21 June 2027, 17:11 |
| Autumn 2027 | Thursday 23 September 2027, 09:01 |
| Winter 2027 | Wednesday 22 December 2027, 05:42 |
Winter 2026 starts ten minutes before midnight on 21 December, while winter 2027 starts on the morning of 22 December, which is why we show the time and not just the day.
How the dates are calculated
We compute the equinoxes and solstices with published astronomical formulas (Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms), accurate to about a minute this century and tested against the officially published instants for 2024–2027, then convert them to Riyadh time (UTC+3). The countdown runs to that exact moment. For every upcoming occasion, see the Occasions Countdown.
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