MANILA - The Philippines will experience this year's longest night on December 22, with peak darkness slated around midnight, state weather bureau PAGASA said.

"Philippine nights will be longer than the daytime" as the winter solstice begins, PAGASA said in its annual astronomical diary.

"This marks the time when the sun lies at its farthest point south of the equator," it said.

"It signals the onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere," it said.

Countries that do not have winter season, like the Philippines, will only experience cooler temperatures and longer nights during the winter solstice.