When is the First Day of Spring? What is Spring Equinox?
GETTY When is the first day of spring?
The March equinox marks the start of spring in the northern hemisphere, signaling the beginning of longer days ahead and, hopefully, warmer weather to come. Many people around the world celebrate the whole day, usually on March 21, but the actual date of the first day of spring changes every year. When is the First Day of Spring in 2018? This year, the first day of spring take place on Tuesday, March 20 - in the UK it will be marked officially at 4.15pm GMT.
GETTY When is the first day of spring? According to the astronomical calendar, it will be March 20
The date is based on the astronomical calendar, whereas the meteorological spring season started on March 1, 2018 and finishes on May 31, 2018. Weather forecasters, such as the Met Office, use the meteorological method based on the Gregorian calendar to help them better observe changing seasonal patterns. The seasons are defined as spring (March, April, May), summer (June, July, August), autumn (September, October, November) and winter (December, January, February). What is the Spring Equinox and why does the date change every year? The Spring Equinox is the first day of spring used by astronomers.
GETTTY When is the First Day of Spring? Daffodils bloom in early spring
There are two equinoxes every year - in March and September - when the Sun is directly over the Equator, and the length of day and night is nearly equal. They are not fixed due to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun which takes the Earth an average 365.25 days instead of 365. This means that the spring equinox will always take place six hours later than the previous year’s March equinox and it is why the date moves between March 19, 20 and 21. While the spring equinox signals the start of spring in the north, in the southern hemisphere it heralds the start of autumn.
GETTY Spring Equinox heralds the start of new beginnings