Sun Path: Preston, UK

Direct answer

For Preston at 53.7628, -2.7045, the declination-only solar-noon altitude is approximately 59.7° at the June solstice, 36.2° at an equinox and 12.8° at the December solstice. Refine these geometry checks with the project date, civil time, facade azimuth, terrain and local horizon. The reproducible location record is GeoNames ID 2639912 in administrative area ENG, at 53.7628, -2.7045; replace it with the surveyed parcel point before relying on the result. As a transparent geometry check, declination-only solar-noon altitude is about 59.7° at the June solstice, 36.2° at an equinox and 12.8° at the December solstice. Representative 21st-day geometry ranges from about 7.2 hours in December to 16.8 hours in June; this excludes atmospheric refraction, terrain and obstruction effects. The cited national authority is a discovery starting point; current local documents and a named qualified reviewer control project use of this sun path record.

Prepared by Harth · Prepared from the cited location and country sources; local project inputs remain unreviewed · Published 2026-08-26 · Updated 2026-08-31.

What must be verified for Preston?

Preston is represented here at approximately 53.7628, -2.7045 for discovery and workflow planning. A project address, parcel, elevation, exposure, authority, and submission date must replace that city-centre reference before design use.

How should sun path be established?

1. Fix the surveyed site and local time basis.
2. Select an authoritative weather source or a named solar-position algorithm.
3. Record period, percentile or scenario and units.
4. Test sensitivity to elevation, exposure, urban form and horizon.
5. Save the source file, retrieval date and checker in the model record.

What are the limits of this worksheet?

This sun-path-workflow page is a project-starting worksheet, not a design value or approval. The controlling authority and qualified professionals for the Preston site remain authoritative.

Which related searches does this primary location record cover?

This primary route consolidates the location evidence needed for Sun Path, Solar Altitude & Azimuth, Solar Shading Design, Daylight & Orientation. A narrower route should be released only when it adds a materially different official source, calculation, process, threshold or worked example.

Preston monthly solar geometry check for sun path

Preston solar-geometry fingerprint at 53.7628, -2.7045

• Preston, 21 January: declination -20.14°, noon altitude 16.10°, zenith 73.90°, geometric daylight 7.997 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 3.465.
• Preston, 21 February: declination -11.23°, noon altitude 25.01°, zenith 64.99°, geometric daylight 9.905 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 2.143.
• Preston, 21 March: declination -0.40°, noon altitude 35.83°, zenith 54.17°, geometric daylight 11.927 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.385.
• Preston, 21 April: declination +11.58°, noon altitude 47.82°, zenith 42.18°, geometric daylight 14.165 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.906.
• Preston, 21 May: declination +20.14°, noon altitude 56.38°, zenith 33.62°, geometric daylight 16.003 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.665.
• Preston, 21 June: declination +23.45°, noon altitude 59.69°, zenith 30.31°, geometric daylight 16.839 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.585.
• Preston, 21 July: declination +20.44°, noon altitude 56.68°, zenith 33.32°, geometric daylight 16.076 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.657.
• Preston, 21 August: declination +11.75°, noon altitude 47.99°, zenith 42.01°, geometric daylight 14.199 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.901.
• Preston, 21 September: declination -0.20°, noon altitude 36.04°, zenith 53.96°, geometric daylight 11.963 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.375.
• Preston, 21 October: declination -11.75°, noon altitude 24.48°, zenith 65.52°, geometric daylight 9.801 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 2.196.
• Preston, 21 November: declination -20.44°, noon altitude 15.80°, zenith 74.20°, geometric daylight 7.924 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 3.535.
• Preston, 21 December: declination -23.45°, noon altitude 12.79°, zenith 77.21°, geometric daylight 7.161 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 4.406.

Harth computed the Preston fingerprint for latitude 53.7628° with the Cooper declination approximation, 90° - |latitude - declination| at solar noon, centre-to-centre sunrise hour angle and 1 / tan(altitude) shadow ratio. Longitude -2.7045° is retained for a later civil-time conversion; this screen does not perform that conversion. See NOAA's solar calculation details. Atmospheric refraction, terrain, facade azimuth and obstructions remain outside this first-pass comparison.

Where can you explore related guidance?

• Explore all solar data guidance
• Sun Path: St Helens, UK
• Sun Path: Liverpool, UK
• Sun Path: Birkenhead, UK
• Sun Path: Manchester, UK
• All solar & daylight data guidance for United Kingdom
• Climate Design Data: Preston, UK

Sources and method

Location data from the GeoNames GB dump (CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-08-31, GeoNames ID 2639912). Regulatory starting point: UK and devolved building-control authorities. Figures are illustrative — verify against the current locally adopted edition for the site. Solar-method context: NOAA Solar Calculation Details; the Harth monthly table uses a simpler declination and geometric-daylight approximation whose stated limitations must be retained.

Source links

• download.geonames.org

• gov.uk

• gml.noaa.gov