With March now here, many people are excited for the end of those bitterly cold, dark winter days. The evenings are drawing out now, with the sunset edging beyond 6pm in some UK regions.
And by the end of the month, we'll see our clocks leap forward an hour, ushering in what we hope will be lighter, warmer times. But when can we officially celebrate the start of spring?
Well, depending on who you ask, spring begins today - Saturday, March 1 - if you're going by meteorological seasons. This method, preferred by the Met Office for its simplicity, adheres to temperature cycles and fits with the calendar, offering clear boundaries between our seasons.
The official word from the Met Office is: "The meteorological seasons consist of splitting the seasons into four periods made up of three months each. These seasons are split to coincide with our Gregorian calendar, making it easier for meteorological observing and forecasting to compare seasonal and monthly statistics.
"By the meteorological calendar, spring will always start on March 1; ending on May 31. The seasons are defined as spring (March, April, May), summer (June, July, August), autumn (September, October, November) and winter (December, January, February)."
However, there are also what's known as "astronomical seasons", which instead look to Earth's orbit, and equinoxes and solstices to label the seasons. These can often change from year to year.
The Met Office explains that this is "due to the 23.5 degrees of tilt of the Earth's rotational axis concerning its orbit around the Sun. Since the seasons vary in length, the start date of a new season can fall on different days each year."
They further clarified that in 2022, spring stretched from March 20 to June 21, and it followed the same pattern in 2023. However, there was a slight change in 2024 when spring began on March 20 but ended a day earlier on June 20.
Looking ahead to 2025, they predict that astronomical spring will kick off on Thursday, March 20, and finish on Saturday, June 21.
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