Sun path Bristol: sunrise, sunset and the sun's height by month (2026)

Last checked: 23 October 2026. Written by the Flatwalk team.

Short answer. Bristol's shortest day, 21 December, brings 7h 50m of daylight: the sun is up at 8:13 and down at 16:03 GMT, rising in the southeast (128°), setting in the southwest (232°) and peaking about 15° above the horizon. Its longest day, 21 June, lasts 16h 38m, from 4:53 to 21:31 BST, with the sun rising in the northeast (49°), setting in the northwest (311°) and climbing to about 62°. Give a south window a clear outlook and it can hold the sun for the whole December day; a north one gets none.

See the sun at your own window

Bristol's sun by month

Each row is the 15th of the month in 2026 at the city centre of Bristol (51.45° N, 2.59° W), in clock time, with directions as compass bearings from true north (east 90°, south 180°, west 270°), and from Clifton to Totterdown the times move by only about a minute.

From the April row through to October the table is in BST, since 2026's clock changes fall on 29 March and 25 October. The sun is due south and at its peak at 12:08 GMT on 21 December and 13:12 BST on 21 June, and "Sun height at noon" is that peak over a flat horizon, which on Bristol's hills is the exception rather than the rule.

Bristol compared with London

Bristol and central London are at almost the same latitude, but Bristol is 2.5° further west. Daylight on 21 December matches London's to the minute, and on 21 June Bristol has 1 minute less. What changes is the clock: sunrise and sunset both come 10 minutes later than in London, in winter and in summer alike. At noon on the shortest day the two cities' suns differ by just 0.1° (15.2° in Bristol, 15.1° in London). As a rule, each degree further west moves sunrise and sunset about 4 minutes later on the clock.

Hours of sun on each side of a flat in Bristol

This table is the ceiling: the most hours of direct sun a window facing each way could have, assuming level ground and nothing at all in front of it. Real Bristol streets fall short of it, because buildings, trees and any balcony above take hours off, most of all in winter with the sun low; on the slopes, the hill itself can take a share as well.

Worth noticing:

• December: south or nothing. Only glass facing somewhere into the southern half of the compass gets a proper winter day of sun: south has every one of the 7 h 50 min of daylight, east and west about 3 h 55 min each, and north none.
• June: the angled walls come out ahead. The summer sun rises and sets so far north that a south-east or south-west wall (10 h) outdoes a south one (9 h 20 min), and a north wall picks up 7 h 20 min at the very ends of the day.
• March: almost even. Near 21 March the sun rises and sets so close to due east and due west that a north window is left with 15 min.

Nothing on a real street beats these figures. The sun tool takes away whatever stands in front of you, building by building.

What it means for flats in Bristol

• The hill comes first. Bristol is a city of steep slopes, and the slope under a home can count for as much as the way its windows face. On ground that falls away to the south, the low winter sun clears the roofs below; on ground that falls to the north, the rising hill to the south can hide it in midwinter. Clifton's Georgian terraces and crescents sit high on the slopes above the Avon Gorge, and Totterdown's painted terraces climb a steep hill south of the river, so homes a short walk apart can have very different winters. Around the harbourside, flats beside the water have open sky across it, which helps wherever the water lies to their south.
• Which way the windows look. A south-facing slope with windows facing the same way puts both things on your side. Anywhere in the city, though, main rooms or a balcony between south-east and south-west catch the most winter sun, east catches mornings, west evenings, and north gives steady light with direct sun only on summer mornings and evenings.
• Upper floors versus lower. Take a five-storey block 15 m (49 ft) tall: with the sun about 15° up at noon on 21 December, it casts a shadow about 55 m (181 ft) long, 2.8 times the wall-to-wall width of a 20 m (66 ft) street, and shades the facade across that street at midday up to about 9.6 m. On 3 m storeys, with the ground floor as storey 1, that shade line sits above the storey 3 windows, so storeys 1 to 3 lose the midday sun on the shortest day and storey 4 is the first to see it. The equinox changes everything: the shadow on 21 March is about 19 m, less than the street's width, and all floors get the midday sun. On a hill, a block uphill to your south works as if it were taller, and one downhill as if it were lower.
• A balcony overhead. Summer is when a balcony above a south window shades it most, because the June sun, at about 62°, drops in steeply; the 15° winter sun slips in underneath. West balconies keep the sun until sunset, which in June is after 21:00.
• Garden shade from the house. The midday shadow on 21 December runs north from the house: about 22 m long for a house 6 m to the eaves. A garden on that north side may get little midwinter sun from that shadow alone, while a south facing garden escapes it unless the houses to its south stand higher up the slope. In June it shrinks to about 3 m, no more than a strip along the house.

Check your own window in Bristol in 3 steps

On a slope like Bristol's, it helps that Sun at your window, Flatwalk's free tool, counts the direct sun on a real window with the ground around it as well as the buildings and trees. Bristol's building outlines are mapped, but Bristol is not yet among the cities with measured heights (London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow), so heights here are estimated, and the tool says so. A block across from you that looks too tall or too low can be reset with Something off?, and big trees that are missing can be added.

1. Your address and your floor. Once your building is spotted on the satellite map (start by typing the address under "See the sun at your window"), tell it whether this is A whole house or A flat, and give Your floor for a flat.
2. Your windows. The outside walls each carry a tag, "South wall · sun side" being one; tap the right wall and either tap the window's position or drag to draw it.
3. Your sun. Set Shortest day for the December test and tap See my sun: you now have your window's direct-sun hours, its 12 month bars and its own "What takes your sun", and Typical weather will fold in the usual clouds.

What it cannot tell you

• Arithmetic, not a light meter. The hours are geometry worked from maps and the sun's position; no instrument is ever placed at your window.
• Bristol's heights are a best guess. Without measured heights, which so far exist only for London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the tool estimates Bristol's from the map, so give the buildings that shade you a second look.
• Bristol keeps building. The map data is not live: anything built since, and trees planted or cut since about 2017 to 2019, can be missing or wrong, and Something off? is where you correct a height or add the missing building or tree.
• Average weather, not a forecast. The cloud in Typical weather comes from monthly averages for 2005 to 2023, so for any one window it may be about 10 to 15% off, and it says nothing about next week.
• Glass only. It answers for windows; a lawn, a terrace floor or a roof you want solar panels on is another question.
• Not for a legal case. Neighbour disputes over light need a right to light survey, and this is neither that nor any certified report.
• Things too small to count: window frames, glass tint and your own roof shape. The outlines it starts from can also sit a metre off the real wall.

Try it free: your Bristol address, your floor, your window

What Flatwalk does that older planners skip

When the sun goes in

Ceiling lights, lamps and LED strips go where you want them, so you can see which corners of the flat go dark first after a 16:03 December sunset.

Next door, in 3D

Type an address on any Bristol street and its neighbours rise around it in 3D, wherever the map has them.

Any date, any hour

Pick a date and an hour and see the real sunlight at your address, and how long direct sun stays in each room.

True size, real room

Wondering whether that sofa fits the bay? Check it at true size on your own floor, using the live camera or a photo of the room.

Down to the details

The window and door types are yours to pick, and every kitchen, wardrobe and bathroom is put together from separate pieces.

Thumb-sized controls

The hour slider takes one finger, and as it moves the light crosses the rooms.

Swipe for more. Every picture is the app itself.

One flat, free

Questions people ask

What is the sun path in Bristol? It changes with the seasons. In midwinter the sun rises in the southeast, keeps low over the south, at only about 15° at midday on 21 December, and sets in the southwest; by midsummer the rising point has swung to the northeast, the midday height to about 62° on 21 June and the setting point to the northwest. Sunrise passes nearly due east, and sunset nearly due west, close to 21 March and 23 September.

What time is sunrise and sunset in Bristol in December? Sunrise on 21 December 2026 comes at 8:13 and sunset at 16:03 GMT, giving 7h 50m of daylight; the earliest sunset, about 16:01, actually falls in mid-December, and the latest sunrise, about 8:15, at the end of December.

Where does the sun rise and set in Bristol? Sunrise is at about 128° (southeast) on the shortest day and about 49° (northeast) on the longest. Sunset swings from about 232° (southwest) in December to about 311° (northwest) in June.

Which way should my flat face in Bristol? For the most sun across the year, and especially in winter, look between south-east and south-west; west is for evening people, east for early risers. Then look at what is opposite, and at the slope: a five-storey block across a 20 m street keeps the lower three floors out of the midday sun on the shortest day, and rising ground to the south can do the same.

How high is the sun in Bristol in winter? Low enough for a hill to matter. The midday sun reaches around 15° on 21 December, and from mid-November to mid-January there is no day when it gets above about 20°. So from your seat, a building, or a hill, that rises more than 15° above your window takes the midday sun away.