June 2025: full moon on the 11th, solstice on the 21st
June 2025 ran its light in strict order. The full moon arrived on Wednesday 11 June. The solstice followed on Saturday 21 June. The longest day in the northern hemisphere arrived ten days after the moon peaked. The grid began on Sunday 1 June and closed on Monday 30 June. It was the only month of the half to open on a Sunday. Thirty days brought five Sundays, five Mondays, 21 business days and ISO weeks 22 to 27.
Sunday first, Monday last
June 2025 opened on a Sunday and finished on a Monday. Sundays led: the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th. Mondays brought up the rear, the 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th. Nine weekend days balanced 21 business days across a six-week footprint, ISO weeks 22 to 27.
A month that begins on a Sunday starts, agreeably, on a day off. The first Monday of work, 2 June, arrived with the whole grid still ahead. Solstice planners got a Saturday for it, the 21st. What the British summer did with that Saturday was, as ever, anyone's guess.
One sheet of A4 held it all, Monday start, week numbers 22 to 27 in the margin. The solstice Saturday was circled in advance by you, perhaps, optimistic about the weather.
The moon's diary
The moon kept a tidy month, three of its four phases on Wednesdays. First quarter came on Tuesday 3 June, full on Wednesday 11 June. Last quarter fell on Wednesday 18 June and the new moon on Wednesday 25 June. The solstice landed on Saturday 21 June between the last two, and from there the nights lengthened.
Carlos Alcaraz retained the French Open on Sunday 8 June, saving three championship points against Jannik Sinner. The final ran five hours and 29 minutes, the longest the tournament had seen. Elsewhere the Nintendo Switch 2 launched on Thursday 5 June and sold 3.5 million consoles worldwide in four days. No console had ever sold faster.
A month that turned grave
On Thursday 12 June, Air India Flight 171 crashed seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people. A single passenger of the 242 aboard survived. The next day, Friday 13 June, Israel opened a twelve-day air campaign against Iran. The exchanges ran to 24 June.
Diplomacy filled the back half of the month. G7 leaders met in Kananaskis, Alberta, from Sunday 15 June, their agenda shadowed by the new war. NATO's summit closed in The Hague on Wednesday 25 June. All 32 allies pledged to spend 5 percent of GDP on defence by 2035.
June 2025 handed the summer to July on a Tuesday, five Sundays and five Mondays richer. The light had already started its long walk back.