The day at the winter solstice is the shortest of the year and the night is the longest. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is the summer solstice, the day with the longest daylight hours. Temperatures are low and it is cold for some mystake casino of them to stay outside, it is difficult to find food and shelter. But coming of the winter season does not mean that we will not enjoy the beauty of the nature.
It marks the first day of Sun’s transit into Makara (Capricorn), marking the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days. Nata e Buzmit, “Yule log’s night”, is celebrated between December 22 and January 6. The old rites of this festivity were accompanied by collective fires (zjarre) based on the house, kinship or neighborhood, a practice performed in order to give strength to the Sun according to the old beliefs. The Albanian traditional rites during the winter solstice period are pagan, and very ancient.
The day on which this occurs has the shortest day and the longest night, with day length increasing and night length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice. Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. For 235 years, The Old Farmer’s Almanac has mixed practical advice with the unexpected.
This season is the coldest in the whole year, but not in the tropical zones. The process by which plants become acclimated to cold weather is called hardening. Other annual plants require winter cold to complete their life cycle; this is known as vernalization. It is one of six seasons recognized by most ecologists who customarily use the term hibernal for this period of the year (the other ecological seasons being prevernal, vernal, estival, serotinal, and autumnal). Ecological reckoning of winter differs from calendar-based by avoiding the use of fixed dates.
Marcus Terentius Varro wrote in the first century BC that this was regarded as the middle of winter. At the temple of Kore (the Koreion) in Alexandria, an all-night vigil was held, and at dawn an idol of the child god was brought out of an underground shrine. Epiphanius says that thirteen days after the solstice, on 5–6 January, they celebrated the birth of Aion, son of the virgin goddess Kore.

Winter in Traditional Holidays Countries of the World

Humans are sensitive to winter cold, which compromises the body’s ability to maintain both core and surface heat of the body. Few plants bloom in the winter, one exception being the flowering plum, which flowers in time for Chinese New Year. Larger plants, particularly deciduous trees, usually let their upper part go dormant, but their roots are still protected by the snow layer.

Ancient Roman world

Winter season is really amazing and has some special atmosphere, that everyone cold feel. During this days, people wear special clothes, use fruits and vegetables as decorations for their homes and also light special candles. (Kwanzaa festival with Ron Karenga, he is the creator of the pan-African and African American holiday Kwanzaa) People celebrate this holiday with families, giving gifts to each other, going to church, singing special songs and having an amazing time with magical atmosphere in the air! Now we are going to tell you about the best and interesting summer tradition in the world! Coming of Winter to every country and town is a significant event, that is way there are a lot of celebrations and holidays, regarding to greet this amazing time of the year.
In the winter season the sun it not active, as usual, temperatures are low and days are really cold. Seasonal lag means that the coldest period normally follows the solstice by a few weeks. Diamond dust, also known as ice needles or ice crystals, forms at temperatures approaching −40 °C (−40 °F) due to air with slightly higher moisture from above mixing with colder, surface-based air.

• In the same century, Ovid wrote in the Fasti that the winter solstice is the first day of the “new Sun”.
• In AD 274, the emperor Aurelian made this the date of the festival Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the birthday of Sol Invictus or the ‘Invincible Sun’.
• Diamond dust, also known as ice needles or ice crystals, forms at temperatures approaching −40 °C (−40 °F) due to air with slightly higher moisture from above mixing with colder, surface-based air.
• Winter is often defined by meteorologists to be the three calendar months with the lowest average temperatures.
• When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa.

Appalachians

In the sixth century, the Greek historian Procopius wrote that the people of Scandinavia (which he calls Thule) held their greatest festival shortly after the winter solstice, to celebrate the return of daylight. For that hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, and when the Sun is at its lowest arc in the sky. The days are shorter, and the nights are longer. Winter is one of the four season and it is the coldest time of the year. The name of the festival means fresh fruits and based on different African harvest festivals, that were held in ancient times.

• In the southern hemisphere, the winter solstice is usually June 21 or June 22.
• Everyone feels some magic in the air, because of frosts, crystal nights, snow and just this amazing atmosphere.
• In this region, snow occurs every year in elevated regions such as the Andes, the Great Dividing Range in Australia, the mountains of New Zealand, and in the southerly Patagonia region of South Argentina.
• The day on which this occurs has the shortest day and the longest night, with day length increasing and night length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice.
• This led some scholars to believe that Scandinavian Yule (Jól) originally was a sun festival on the winter solstice.
• The Swedish Meteorological Institute (SMHI) defines thermal winter as when the daily mean temperatures are below 0 °C (32 °F) for five consecutive days.
• Iranian people celebrate the night of the Northern Hemisphere’s winter solstice as, “Yalda night”, which is known to be the “longest and darkest night of the year”.

In Gaelic Ireland and Scotland, winter began with the festival of Samhain on 1 November and ended with Imbolc on 1 February. For many mainland European countries, especially Germanic regions, winter began at Martinmas (Saint Martin’s Day) on 11 November. Bede also mentions an older ‘two-season’ year, where summer ended and winter began at the full moon during the month of Winterfylleth, in October. Likewise, in Christian Anglo-Saxon calendars, winter began on 7 November, its midpoint was the solstice or Midwinter on 25 December, and winter ended on 6 February. In the Julian calendar used in the ancient Roman world, winter began on 10 November, its midpoint was the winter solstice on 25 December, and winter ended on 6 February. This idea survived in parts of Europe into the Early Middle Ages, co-existing with the newer idea of four seasons.
Some nations do not have a time of the year which has temperatures too different than in other seasons. Holidays in winter for many countries include Christmas and New Year’s Day. In the southern hemisphere, the winter solstice is usually June 21 or June 22. In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice is usually December 21 or December 22.