1 March represents the start of meteorological Spring

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1 March represents the start of meteorological Spring

28 February 2022 (0 Comments)

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In meteorological terms, Spring in the northern hemisphere covers March, April & May, with the other seasons following in 3-month periods.

But, astronomically, Spring starts at the Vernal Equinox, when the Sun crosses the celestial equator into the northern hemisphere - this year at 1533 UTC (~GMT) on 20 March. Astronomical Summer then starts at the Summer Solstice - 1013 UTC on 21 June, when the Sun is at its highest northerly latitude of 23º26’.

In 2002, the EU stipulated that all member states should adopt ’Summer Time’ between the last Sundays in March and October - the clocks to change at 0100 UTC. So, this year BST will apply from 27 March to 30 October. It is assumed that UK will continue to remain synchronised with the EU.

Further details from timeanddate.com