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Jan Harris
Deputy Group Editor
2:00 AM 1st June 2022
nature

When Is The First Day Of Summer?

 
photo by N Suma on Unsplash
photo by N Suma on Unsplash
In the UK we have witnessed a lot of different weather of late. The month of May has seen all the seasons in one month, wet and windy one minute and sun shining the next, totally confusing us. So a lot of us are wondering whether summer will officially start soon so we can expect warmer weather.

Well it depends on whether you go by the meteorological seasons or the astronomical point of view. The meteorological is the simpler of the two, splitting the year into four seasons of three month blocks based on the Gregorian calendar.

Meteorological seasons – Northern Hemisphere

The meteorological summer always begins on 1 June and ends on 31 August with autumn starting on 1 September. Meteorologists divide the year into four seasons allowing them to organise climate data better.

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
Spring:
March, April, May
Summer:
June, July, August
Autumn:
September, October, November
Winter:
December, January, February


Photo by Vitolda Klein on Unsplash
Photo by Vitolda Klein on Unsplash
Astronomical seasons – Northern Hemisphere

The start of summer is a few weeks away if you choose the astronomical point of view as it depends on the date of the summer solstice later in June.

The astronomical start date is based on the position of the sun in relation to the earth. In 2022 the summer solstice falls on Tuesday 21 June, which is also the longest day of the year. Six months later is the winter solstice also known as the shortest day of the year. The summer solstice can be any date between 20 and 22 June. The astronomical summer lasts until the autumnal equinox.

Image by Lorri Lang from Pixabay
Image by Lorri Lang from Pixabay
Spring Equinox:
20/23 March
Summer Solstice:
20/22 June
Autumn Equinox:
21/24 September
Winter Solstice:
20/23 December


Some facts about summer

Photo by Breno Machado on Unsplash
Photo by Breno Machado on Unsplash
More thunderstorms occur during the summer than at any other time of the year
Crickets get chirpy in the summer
The longest day of the year is in summer
Ice pops were invented in 1905 by an 11 year old boy.
The Eiffel Tower actually grows in the heat of the summer
The first Olympic Games in the modern era were the 1896 Summer Olympics

Photo by Nas Mato on Unsplash
Photo by Nas Mato on Unsplash
The warmest ever summer in the UK was in 2006 when daytime temperatures averaged 15.8 °C
July is national ice cream month
On 2 June 1975, snow showers forced the abandonment of several cricket matches across the country
The coldest summer temperature recorded was around -5.6 degrees centigrade – both in 1955 and in 1962