What are longer nights?

Longer nights are when it gets dark earlier and stays dark longer than usual.

Imagine you have a toy light that turns on and off. When it's summer, the light turns on later in the day and turns off much later at night, that’s like having shorter nights. But when it's winter, the light turns on earlier in the day and turns off way later at night, that’s like having longer nights.

The Earth is tilted as it moves around the Sun. In winter, your part of the Earth leans away from the Sun, so the Sun seems to take a lower path across the sky. This means it takes longer for the Sun to go down and come back up again, just like how it takes more time to put on all your socks in the morning when you're tired.

You might notice that it's darker outside when you go to bed, and you need a flashlight to find your slippers in the morning. That’s because the longer nights have given us extra hours of darkness to enjoy, or maybe to snuggle under more blankets!