Amazing photo shows today's Midsummer Day sunrise in Milton Keynes park

Talented city photographer Gill Prince was one of many people who got up before 4am to witness the spectacular Midsummer Day sunrise today.

Gill positioned herself by the beacon at Campbell Park to capture the annual event on camera.

She said: “It was worth the early start! And it was great to see so many other people up there as well.”

Midsummer Day falls on the longest day of the year and marks the beginning of the astronomical summer summer solstice. It means the return of brighter evenings.

The UK will now have 16 hours and 38 minutes of daylight, with the sun rising at 4.43am and setting at 9.22pm precisely.

Milton Keynes is famed for its connections with the summer solstice as Midsummer Boulevard in CMK was built to be perfectly aligned with the rising sun on that day.

In the 1970s, the city’s chief architect Derek Walker and his young, enthusiastic team had a passion for American town planning, “earth mysteries” and the environment when they were building the new city.

Central Milton Keynes was originally planned to be aligned along the north-south and east-west axes. But Derek noticed that with a bit of tweaking they could position it, similar to Stonehenge, to align perfectly with the summer solstice sunrise.

He consulted experts at Greenwich Observatory to ensure accuracy. As a result, the sun now rises precisely at one end of Midsummer Boulevard on Midsummer Day - just like a modern Stonehenge.