Google welcomes the arrival of winter -- and summer -- with new Doodles

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Google is celebrating the arrival of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere with new Doodles.

For users living north of the equator, a visit to Google's homepage will display an animated image featuring the tech giant's familiar collection of anthropomorphized rocks as they shiver in the cold amongst piles of snow and a depleted tree devoid of leaves.

"Across the northern hemisphere, people everywhere celebrate the winter solstice with seasonal holidays, celebrations, and festivals to remind us of the lengthening days ahead," Google notes of the weather change.

"The solstice is named for the brief time when the sun appears to pause its movement across the sky. At that moment, the tilt and rotation of the earth shifts our view of the sun's direction from southward to northward, causing it to hang momentarily suspended," they continued.

For those living south of the equator, it is now the start of summer with Google displaying a similar animated shot featuring the same gathering of rocks.

This time the gang is shown observing a squirrel as it leaps from rock to rock in order to grab a strawberry much to their surprise amongst lush green grass and a full tree.

"Today marks the first day of summer and the longest day of the year for the southern hemisphere," Google writes of the seasonal change. "The summer solstice is named for the brief time when the sun appears to pause its movement across the sky. At that moment, the tilt and rotation of the earth shifts our view of the sun's direction from northward to southward, causing it to hang momentarily suspended."