THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER.

(From Aberdeen Evening Express)

Byline: alan.majury

TOMORROW is the shortest day of the year. But while the mid-December solstice marks the beginning of winter in the Northern hemisphere, there's no need to feel down in the dumps.

Dr Clare Downham, a lecturer in Celtic studies at the University of Aberdeen, said the solstice was a reason for celebration in prehistoric times.

She said: 'Particularly for agricultural societies, it was an important event as it marked the return of the sun.

'The earliest evidence we have of people celebrating the solstice is in the Neolithic monuments such as Maeshowe, in Stenness on Orkney's West …