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Latest research: The double-dark winter
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toog Insights is a research firm for digital PR. We build reference-grade rankings, indexes and fast data reactions to the news from public and client data, with a method an editor can retrace. You keep the pitching. We hand over the story.

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The double-dark winter. UK research, published 20 Oct 2026. Tap to change the view.

InsightsResearch · Oct 2026

Every day of winter time, by city. The dark funnel is the double-dark winter.

NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR Inverness Inverness: 86 double-dark days 86 Glasgow Glasgow: 79 double-dark days 79 Aberdeen Aberdeen: 78 double-dark days 78 Dundee Dundee: 78 double-dark days 78 Edinburgh Edinburgh: 77 double-dark days 77 Derry Derry: 76 double-dark days 76 Belfast Belfast: 74 double-dark days 74 Carlisle Carlisle: 71 double-dark days 71 Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne: 65 double-dark days 65 Liverpool Liverpool: 64 double-dark days 64 Bradford Bradford: 60 double-dark days 60 Manchester Manchester: 60 double-dark days 60 Leeds Leeds: 58 double-dark days 58 Swansea Swansea: 58 double-dark days 58 Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent: 57 double-dark days 57 York York: 57 double-dark days 57 Sheffield Sheffield: 55 double-dark days 55 Cardiff Cardiff: 54 double-dark days 54 Newport Newport: 53 double-dark days 53 Plymouth Plymouth: 53 double-dark days 53 Birmingham Birmingham: 52 double-dark days 52 Hull Kingston upon Hull: 52 double-dark days 52 Exeter Exeter: 51 double-dark days 51 Nottingham Nottingham: 51 double-dark days 51 Bristol Bristol: 50 double-dark days 50 Coventry Coventry: 49 double-dark days 49 Leicester Leicester: 49 double-dark days 49 Oxford Oxford: 42 double-dark days 42 Cambridge Cambridge: 36 double-dark days 36 Southampton Southampton: 36 double-dark days 36 Portsmouth Portsmouth: 32 double-dark days 32 Norwich Norwich: 31 double-dark days 31 London London: 30 double-dark days 30 Brighton Brighton: 22 double-dark days 22 21 DEC · SHORTEST DAY 25 OCT · CLOCKS BACK 27 MAR
NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR Inverness Inverness: 86 double-dark days 86 Glasgow Glasgow: 79 double-dark days 79 Aberdeen Aberdeen: 78 double-dark days 78 Dundee Dundee: 78 double-dark days 78 Edinburgh Edinburgh: 77 double-dark days 77 Derry Derry: 76 double-dark days 76 Belfast Belfast: 74 double-dark days 74 Carlisle Carlisle: 71 double-dark days 71 Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne: 65 double-dark days 65 Liverpool Liverpool: 64 double-dark days 64 Bradford Bradford: 60 double-dark days 60 Manchester Manchester: 60 double-dark days 60 Leeds Leeds: 58 double-dark days 58 Swansea Swansea: 58 double-dark days 58 Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent: 57 double-dark days 57 York York: 57 double-dark days 57 Sheffield Sheffield: 55 double-dark days 55 Cardiff Cardiff: 54 double-dark days 54 Newport Newport: 53 double-dark days 53 Plymouth Plymouth: 53 double-dark days 53 Birmingham Birmingham: 52 double-dark days 52 Hull Kingston upon Hull: 52 double-dark days 52 Exeter Exeter: 51 double-dark days 51 Nottingham Nottingham: 51 double-dark days 51 Bristol Bristol: 50 double-dark days 50 Coventry Coventry: 49 double-dark days 49 Leicester Leicester: 49 double-dark days 49 Oxford Oxford: 42 double-dark days 42 Cambridge Cambridge: 36 double-dark days 36 Southampton Southampton: 36 double-dark days 36 Portsmouth Portsmouth: 32 double-dark days 32 Norwich Norwich: 31 double-dark days 31 London London: 30 double-dark days 30 Brighton Brighton: 22 double-dark days 22 21 DEC 25 OCT 27 MAR
Dark cell: sunrise after 08:00 and sunset before 17:00 · Inverness 86 · Brighton 22

34 UK cities, all 154 days between the clocks going back and going forward. Every figure is reproducible from the published data.

01The problem

A pitch without a number is an opinion. A number without a method is a liability.

Journalists cover data they can check. That means a clean headline figure, a source trail and a method that survives an editor's questions.

Finding that number properly takes days of digging that most campaign calendars don't have. So it gets rushed, or skipped, or bought in as a poll when the answer was sitting in public data all along.

Exhibit A

What a data-led pitch has to carry.

Five things an editor looks for before a number makes the story. We build all five, every time.

  • The headline figureOne number, said in one sentenceLead
  • The methodSources, dates and maths an editor can retraceCheckable
  • The regional cutA version for every local deskRe-cut
  • The chart packVisuals a newsroom can lift as they areReady
  • The limitsWhat the data can't show, stated up frontAlways
02Latest research

The double-dark winter. 34 cities, 154 days, every figure checkable.

Which UK cities spend the most of this winter commuting in the dark? We calculated sunrise and sunset for 34 cities on all 154 days of winter time, checked the results against an independent source, and found the twist that makes it a story: the east, not the north, waits longest for its evenings.

Published research · 20 Oct 202625 Oct 2026 to 27 Mar 2027 · 34 cities
Most double-dark days
86

Inverness, the most of 34 cities, from 15 Nov to 8 Feb.

Fewest
22

Brighton. London has 30, Norwich 31.

Last 5:30pm sunset to return
28 Feb

Norwich, last of 34 cities. Six days after Inverness, the furthest north.

  1. 01Scotland takes the top five. Inverness (86 double-dark days), Glasgow (79), Aberdeen (78), Dundee (78) and Edinburgh (77).86 days
  2. 02Brighton gets off lightest with 22 double-dark days, followed by London (30) and Norwich (31).22 days
  3. 03Inverness has the latest sunrise: 08:59 on 28 Dec. Aberdeen has the earliest sunset, 15:24, six minutes before Inverness.08:59
  4. 04The east loses its evenings. Norwich is the last of the 34 cities to see a 5:30pm sunset again. Hull and Cambridge follow on 25 Feb, level with Aberdeen.28 Feb
  5. 05The sun sets earlier in Norwich than in Inverness on 83 of the 154 days of winter time: 25 Oct to 15 Nov, then 26 Jan until the clocks go forward.83 of 154
  6. 06On its darkest evening, Norwich's sunset (15:39) comes before Glasgow's (15:42) and Belfast's (15:57).15:39
  7. 07Derry is the paradox. It has the sixth-most double-dark days (76), yet it is the first city in the study to get 5:30pm sunsets back.13 Feb
  8. 08London's double-dark run lasts 30 days, from 16 Dec to 14 Jan. Inverness's starts a month earlier, on 15 Nov.30 days
Why

Why the east does worse in the evening

The UK runs on one clock, but the sun crosses the country from east to west. Norwich sits 8.6 degrees of longitude east of Derry, so the sun rises and sets about 34 minutes earlier there.

Northern cities have shorter days. Eastern cities keep the same clock but get an earlier sun, which costs them evenings and gives them mornings.

Full ranking, all 34 cities

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

RankCityNationDouble-dark daysLatest sunriseEarliest sunsetShortest dayFirst 5:30pm sunset
1InvernessScotland8608:5915:306h 35m22 Feb
2GlasgowScotland7908:4815:426h 58m20 Feb
=3AberdeenScotland7808:4815:246h 40m25 Feb
=3DundeeScotland7808:4715:336h 49m23 Feb
5EdinburghScotland7708:4415:376h 56m22 Feb
6DerryN. Ireland7608:5416:007h 09m13 Feb
7BelfastN. Ireland7408:4615:577h 14m15 Feb
8CarlisleEngland7108:3615:437h 11m21 Feb
9Newcastle upon TyneEngland6508:3115:377h 10m24 Feb
10LiverpoolEngland6408:2815:527h 28m20 Feb
=11BradfordEngland6008:2515:457h 24m23 Feb
=11ManchesterEngland6008:2515:487h 28m21 Feb
=13LeedsEngland5808:2415:447h 24m23 Feb
=13SwanseaWales5808:2216:057h 48m16 Feb
=15YorkEngland5708:2315:417h 22m24 Feb
=15Stoke-on-TrentEngland5708:2215:517h 33m21 Feb
17SheffieldEngland5508:2115:467h 29m23 Feb
18CardiffWales5408:1816:037h 49m17 Feb
=19NewportWales5308:1816:027h 48m18 Feb
=19PlymouthEngland5308:1716:128h 00m14 Feb
=21Kingston upon HullEngland5208:1915:397h 25m25 Feb
=21BirminghamEngland5208:1815:537h 39m21 Feb
=23NottinghamEngland5108:1815:477h 34m23 Feb
=23ExeterEngland5108:1616:087h 57m15 Feb
25BristolEngland5008:1616:017h 49m18 Feb
=26LeicesterEngland4908:1615:497h 37m23 Feb
=26CoventryEngland4908:1615:517h 40m22 Feb
28OxfordEngland4208:1215:547h 46m22 Feb
=29CambridgeEngland3608:0915:467h 42m25 Feb
=29SouthamptonEngland3608:0815:597h 55m20 Feb
31PortsmouthEngland3208:0615:587h 56m21 Feb
32NorwichEngland3108:0615:397h 37m28 Feb
33LondonEngland3008:0615:507h 49m24 Feb
34BrightonEngland2208:0315:547h 56m23 Feb

Double-dark day: sunrise after 08:00 and sunset before 17:00. Ties share a rank. All times UK local time.

Read the full study Download the data PDF · 8 pages · method, limits and pitch angles
03The method

We start with the story. Then we try to break it.

Most data campaigns start with a dataset and hope a story falls out. We start with the story a journalist would want to run, find the cheapest data that could prove it, and then attack our own finding before an editor gets the chance.

Built on the toog method
  1. 1Brief

    Start from the headline.

    What would a journalist on this beat actually run? We write the headline we're looking for before we touch the data, so the work stays pointed at a story, not a spreadsheet.

  2. 2Source

    Find the cheapest defensible data.

    Official statistics, public registers, published records, your client's own first-party data. A paid survey only when nothing else will do. Defensible beats expensive.

  3. 3Prove

    Try to break it.

    Every finding is checked against an independent source, and every likely objection is tested. If it doesn't survive us, it never reaches your client.

  4. 4Hand over

    Ready to pitch.

    Headline, charts, regional cuts, the full dataset and a method note, unbranded. You pitch it. We stay invisible.

04What we make

Three ways in. All unbranded.

Order one piece at a time, for one client. No retainer, no minimum. Each is quoted at a fixed price before work starts.

Data study

The full campaign asset.

A ranking, index or comparison built from public or client data: headline finding, chart pack, regional cuts and a method page an editor can retrace.

3 to 5 working days
Reactive data pull

While the story moves.

A data angle on a breaking story: one finding, one chart and one method note.

Same day
Idea pack

Ideas with the data found.

Five campaign concepts, each with its data source located and checked before you take it to a client.

3 to 5 working days

Turnaround counts from a confirmed brief.

Method first

Every number traces back to a source and a calculation an editor can follow. If we can't show the working, it doesn't go in.

Unbranded by default

Your agency's name on the work, not ours. Your client never needs to know we exist. NDA on request.

Gaps flagged, never filled

No estimates dressed as findings, no invented respondents. What the data can't show is written down, not papered over.

05Who it's for

For PR teams with good ideas and no time to find the data. Digital PR and SEO agencies, in-house teams and freelancers running data-led campaigns.

If the idea is ready but the number is what's holding it up, that's the work we do.

  • Not a PR agency. We don't pitch, and we never contact your journalists.
  • Not a polling house. We don't run panels or sell poll results.
  • Not a data broker. Every source is named and every calculation shown.
06What you get

Everything an editor asks for, before they ask.

  • A headline finding, written as a sentence a journalist can use
  • A chart pack in formats a newsroom can lift
  • The full dataset, cleaned and labelled
  • Regional or segment cuts where the data allows
  • A method note an editor can retrace
  • Known limitations, stated plainly
  • Delivered unbranded NDA on request
A headline we cut

“The further north, the darker the evening.” Wrong on 83 of 154 days.

It’s the story everyone expects, and the data doesn’t back it. Norwich’s sun sets before Inverness’s on 83 of the 154 days of winter time. On the night the clocks go back, Norwich has the earliest sunset of all 34 cities.

Every study gets the same treatment. We try to break the obvious story before an editor does, and only hand over what’s still standing.

See what survived
07How it works

Four steps. No retainer.

  1. 1

    Test brief

    Send a client niche or a story you're chasing. We return one sourced finding with its method, at no charge, so you judge the work before you commission it.

  2. 2

    Fixed quote

    Scope, price and delivery date in writing before work starts. No surprise invoices.

  3. 3

    Build

    Source, prove, chart and write up. You see the headline finding before the rest is finished.

  4. 4

    Handover

    Everything unbranded and ready to pitch, with the data and method behind it.

08FAQ

Fair questions.

Do you pitch journalists?

No. We build the data and the story, and you pitch it. Your media relationships stay yours.

Where does the data come from?

Public datasets such as official statistics, registers and published records, your client's own first-party data, or both. If a survey is genuinely the right source, we'll design the questions and brief your panel provider.

Will our client know you exist?

Only if you want them to. Everything is delivered unbranded, and we'll sign an NDA on request.

Do you ever estimate or simulate data?

No. If the data doesn't support a finding, we say so. Gaps go in the method note. They don't get filled with guesses.

How fast is fast?

Reactive pulls go out the same day. Data studies and idea packs take three to five working days from a confirmed brief, and you get a firm date in your quote.

Can this method run for our client?

Yes. The double-dark method runs for any list of towns, any working pattern and any period, and most public datasets can be re-cut the same way for a client with stores, offices or members in specific places.

09Brief us

Find the number behind your next story.

Tell us a client niche or a story you're chasing. We return one sourced finding with its method, at no charge, so you judge the work itself rather than a pitch about it.

Or emailtevin@toog.pro