More than 6,000 gather at Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice

Rachel Hepworth joined revellers through the night to watch the sunrise.


Thousands of people gathered at Stonehenge in Wiltshire on Tuesday, June 21, to celebrate the summer solstice.

It is the first time in three years people have been officially allowed back to the World Heritage Site to mark the occasion.

Around 6,000 people joined together to watch the sun rise just before 5am marking the start of the longest day of the year.

The weather stayed dry for those who visited the monument with many spotted taking pictures of the amber sky.

English Heritage, which run the site, live streamed the event for people to watch remotely.

Drivers travelling past the monument are being told to expect disruption on the A303 as people leave the site.


  • Many people spent the night at the site to welcome the sunrise


The sarsen stones were put up in the centre of the site around 2500 BC.

They were carefully aligned to line up with the movements of the sun.

The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol "sun" and sistere "to stand still".