Summer Solstice at Stonehenge - A midsummer day's scene: Revellers rise at dawn to celebrate the solstice with drumming and dancing
- The solstice is a rare chance for members of the public to walk among the ancient Wiltshire stone circle
- June 21 is the longest day of the calendar year, with daylight hours getting shorter from now on
- By sunset last night, 2,000 people had gathered to keep vigil. By 5am, 21,000 people were greeting the sunrise
- Police praise 'positive, friendly atmosphere' and made only 22 arrests, mainly for drug offences
The solstice, which means the sun is standing still, was also marked by about 500 people at Avebury, Wiltshire, who kept watch for the sunrise at stone circles there.
From Monday, the final steps in Stonehenge's transformation will begin. Part of the road running alongside will be permanently closed as part of a long-awaited refurbishment of the World Heritage Site.
The closure and grassing over of the A344 will make Stonehenge fully part of the landscape again, allowing visitors to relieve the walk between the stone circle and the prehistoric avenue that used to be the approach to the monument.
It is part of work which includes the creation of a new visitor centre around 1.5 miles away from the monument, with a cafe, shop and museum showing artefacts and exploring theories about Stonehenge, as well as three replica neolithic houses.
