News & Press: Natural world

Autumnal Equinox

22 September 2023   (0 Comments)

Astronomically, Summer finishes at the Autumnal Equinox.


This occurs when the Sun passes over the equator into the southern hemisphere - this year at 0750 BST (0650 GMT/UTC) on 23 September. 


Astronomically, Autumn will run until the Winter Solstice - at 0327 UTC on 22 December. Then Winter will last until the Vernal Equinox, when the Sun returns back to the northern hemisphere - at 0306 UTC on 20 March 2024.



But in meteorological terms, Autumn is considered to be the months of September, October and November, with the other seasons following in 3-month periods.



And British Summer Time (BST) will cease at 0200 BST on 29 October, in compliance with an EU directive since 2002, which states that ‘Summer Time’ will be observed between the last Sundays in March and October, clocks to change at 0100 UTC. Currently, UK is continuing to observe that directive.



Further details from the Royal Observatory