During the traditional annual, all-night party, thousands danced at the ancient stone circle as the solstice occurred, at 4:52 a.m. local time, according to CBS News.
More than 20,000 people gathered at the Stonehenge monument to celebrate the summer solstice. Police said the event saw fewer arrests this year as 22 people were taken into custody, most for drug-related offenses.
The ancient stone circle on the Salisbury Plain about 80 miles southwest of London, was built in three phases between 3000 B.C. and 1600 B.C.
According to Space.com, when the sun reaches the point where it appears to shine farthest to the north of the equator over the Tropic of Cancer, that marks the moment of the summer solstice.
"June 21 solstice marks the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the start of winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Technically, at one minute past the moment of the solstice, the sun has turned around and started south," Space.com reported.
The duration of the sunlight today will reportedly last 15 hours and 4 minutes. However, Space.com reported that despite popular beliefs, earliest sunrise and latest sunset do not coincide with the summer solstice. The earliest sunrise occurred on June 14, and the latest sunset is not due until June 27.
"During the year varying amounts of sunlight strike different regions of the planet and as a consequence both the angle of the sun's path across the sky and the number of hours it is above the horizon change significantly," Space.com reported. "If the total energy received from the sun - known as insolation - alone governed the temperature, we should now be experiencing the year's hottest weather."
The reverse process will occur after the winter solstice in late December. According to reports, we will experience our hottest weather in late July and our coldest in late January.
