And so it begins. School summer holidays end. The days get shorter. Then it’s light-jacket weather, and before I know it, I can’t leave the house without seven layers on, and I forget what the sun looks like completely… Okay, maybe I’m spiralling, but Birmingham’s last 8pm sunset of the year is this week, so cut me some slack.
If, like me, you’re already feeling that autumnal feeling at night, get used to it. On Sunday, August 30, 2026, the sun sets in Birmingham at exactly 20:00—with only 13 hours, 45 minutes and 4 seconds of daylight. It won’t set that late again in the Second City until Monday, April 12, 2027. So soak it up!
The bad news doesn’t stop there. You will only have to wait less than a month until the last 7pm sunset in Birmingham (19:01 on Thursday, September 24). In the UK, autumn starts for the meteorological calendar on Tuesday, September 1, while for the astronomical calendar, Wednesday, September 23, so expect a great change at these times.
When do the clocks change?
There are still two months until the clocks change on Sunday, October 25, when the time will fall back to 16:51. I can’t even imagine such a time. We’ll have only just gotten used to 6 pm sunsets too, with the final one of the year occurring in Birmingham on Tuesday, October 20, at 18:02.
Looking even further ahead, the last 4pm sunset in Birmingham is on Tuesday, November 24, while the shortest day of the year isn’t until Monday, December 21—with sunrise at 08:15 and sunset at 15:55, that’s 7 hours, 39 minutes, and 30 seconds of daylight. Things will only get brighter from there.
