How do you divide the seasons?

[TryingToSeeTheFunnySide]

I always think of the seasons in four increments of three months each -

Spring - March, April, May
Summer - June, July, August
Autumn - September, October, November
Winter - December, January, February

I know in this country, the weather can be wildly varied at pretty much any time of year; but, still, in terms of daylight hours etc, I think of the way described above.

I ask because a friend the other day described last weekend as summer. I said I see May as late spring. If we're having hot May days they're just hot spring days. We're back down to circa 12°C now, so the hot spell was short-lived; but I was curious to know how other people see it?

@FeeChee Not sure if it was farming related. I suppose so?
Traditionally (until maybe the 12th century??) there were bands of young men/hunter/warriors (Fianna) who were a part of Irish society who essentially divided their year into two. They holed up in the houses of the nobility from start Nov to end of April, hunted and trained and lived in the wild from May to end Oct (from Bealtaine to Samhain, essentially May Day until Halloween). Or so it's said. History gets a bit foggy when you go back centuries 😄

😂 You see, I'd just say we were having a cool fresh (not to mention pretty wet!) spring. We had a few days of hot spring, now we're back to fresh spring. I actually feel slightly nervous as summer approaches, as I don't cope well with extreme heat. So, I'm clinging onto spring for dear life!

It seems that the astronomical rather than the meteorological system was once followed in England, too, possibly from when we were pre industrial?
Gleaning this from lines from the Padstow Mayday song, “with the merry ring adieu the joyful Spring, for Summer is a come in today”

Yep, with you OP and have had pretty much this exact conversation before!

I'm Irish,

Spring is February, March, April. Grass is growing, the days are stretching, lambing and calving and planting are under way.

Summer is May, June, July. The days are at their longest, the ground has dried up, the trees are in full leaf, there are flowers in the fields. Midsummer is more or less in the middle of the season.

Autumn is August September October. Harvest is under way, the trees have turned colour, the evenings are getting earlier but it's still usually dry underfoot and pleasant to be outdoors.

Winter is November, December, January, short days, long nights, time to take a break from farm and garden work and to sit round the fire, tell stories, eat the food produced over the last year.

Interesting, as the lady with whom I had the conversation spent many years in Ireland. She is English, but lived in rural Ireland for many years, so maybe she was influenced by that?

The Irish system makes more sense when you consider 21st June is Midsummers day. Of course that refers to the light rather than the weather, which is possibly a better system given how the light is fairly reliable but the weather is so changeable.

The kids have a colour coded calendar though and it's uses your system OP, May is officially Spring, summer starts in June.

3-3-2-4
Spring - March, April, May
Summer - June, July, August
Autumn - September, October
Winter - November, December, January, February

I wonder if the Irish seasons are one month ahead of the English ones is because they generally have milder weather than us, so the grass in February will start to grow whereas in many parts on England it can well be hit by frosts most evenings?

I'm not sure but I don't think so @Ifailed.
January and February are the coldest months here too (Ireland), but traditionally the seasons seemed to follow light, not temperature.

Our met office has the seasons a month out from the old system ( ie they say summer starts in June), but the old system is still the one taught in schools and it matches the old festivals too, even though these aren't widely celebrated now except for Halloween.

I'm Scottish so

Winter - October to April
Spring - May to July
Autumn - August to September

Summer - 1 or 2 random days anytime between April and September.

Unless it’s a very hot May, then I’d say the same as you.

I usually count September as part of summer - it’s often a lovely month around here - ditto much of October, if we’re lucky, but that’s def. Autumn.

Otherwise as OP.

I use the astronomical definition so the equinoxes and solstices mark the start of each season for me

I had a laugh at this.

Mine is the opposite:

Autumn - March, April, May
Winter - June, July, August
Spring - September, October, November
Summer - December, January, February

But summer is more like November to March

This year the season are all bonkers as we are in winter in 2 weeks and still in t-shirts.

Same as you OP, except each new season doesn't start until the middle of the month. So Spring starts in mid-March, runs until mid June.

I know I was taught:

Spring - March, April, May
Summer - June, July, August
Autumn - September, October, November
Winter - December, January, February

But in my head I think:

Spring- end Feb to mid May
Summer - mid May to August
Autumn - September, October
Winter - November to mid Feb

Mostly because I'm sure the harvesting is mostly done by end of October, and then it gets colder.

I love the winter and the cold and dark nights. It really annoys me when people bang on about how many sleeps until the sun sets at 5pm or in however many days the sky will still be light at 7pm. Just accept the winter and it will pass. I don't tell everyone I see in June that it won't be long till it's dark at 6pm.

On paper, I'd define them as you have. I would use the technical definition if I was specifying a timeline (eg "we're moving in summer"). In practice, I define it more by the weather involved. Summer begins as soon as we start having majority T-shirt weather and minimal rain. Winter begins when we start having long stretches of very cold weather and lots of rain or possibly snow. Spring and Autumn are nebulous points in between.

Last week's hot weather hasn't lasted here, so I wouldn't consider it summer. But if I look at the weather forecast and it's predicting hot and mostly dry for the foreseeable future, I consider summer to have started even if it's not June.

I use the meteorological terms as well.

Spring - march, April, May
Summer - June, July, August
Autumn - September, October, November
Winter - December, January, February

However as I'm scotland it's usually winter august- July with summer on a Wednesday.

I use the astronomical method personally. So for me summer begins on summer solstice, which is June 21st this year.

Ah, I didn't realise the solstice is meant to be the beginning. I thought it just signified the longest day.
Interesting to hear the different interpretations 😊