For thinking that spring starts at the vernal equinox and not the 1st of March?

[SimonBridges]

Everyone, including Monty Don on Gardeners World, has been saying that spring starts on the first of March.

My understanding is that it is the spring equinox, which this year is the 20th of March.

This started to creep in with the weather forecast as meteorologists started to use the 1st of March, June, September and December as the start of a new season to make working out figures easier.

I am of the option that the calendar is a man made construct and we should stick to the movement of the planet.

AIBU?

YANBU

YANBU!

1st March is the metereological beginning of spring.
21st March is the astronomical beginning of spring.

That's what I learned a couple of decades ago anyway.

As far as I'm concerned, spring starts on the 1st February. But I'm Irish and go with the traditional Irish calendar for seasons.

Feb 1st is based on light, March 1st on heat.

YA definitely NBU. I had this out with my kids last week, when one of them started saying it was now spring. No it's not. I may be making this up, but I think it did start with the weather forecasters wanting a nice tidy way to say 'winter months' (Dec/Jan/Feb) 'spring months' (Mar/Apr/May) etc., and then from there we got spring starting on 1 March. Except that it doesn't. Grrrr.

I always thought it was the 21st March? Or does it not stay the seem each year?

You are correct

No, Dalek, the vernal equinox can fall anywhere between the 19th and 21st, which is why the meteorological spring is fixed, to make it easier to compare different years.

www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/seasons/spring/when-does-spring-start

The weather in the UK this year on 1 March was certainly supporting the continuation of winter .

I go by what the plants in my garden are doing, not what date it is.
They think that spring has already started.

Yadnbu, is laziness on the part of the met office.

I’m glad others are annoyed about this too.

1st March is the metereological beginning of spring. 21st March is the astronomical beginning of spring.

This is correct.... imo, the metereological definition is most in tune with the characteristics we associate with the seasons. For instance, 20th March (in the astronomical winter unless equinox is early) is normally far less “wintry” in feeling than 20th December (in astronomical autumn) in that it is a few degrees milder (on average), much lighter (4-5 more hours of daylight in U.K.), the sun feels warm in middle of day, and daffodils and other “spring” flowers are in bloom.

The weather in the UK this year on 1 March was certainly supporting the continuation of winter

True.... but it was the coldest 1 March on record, so hardly a stat that proves anything.

Yadnbu, is laziness on the part of the met office

It’s not laziness at all! The met office are meterologists.... so they will of course apply meteorological definitions! I stand by my view that the met definition of spring is far more in tune with actual ‘spring’ phenomena.

1st of March is St bridgids day in Ireland and our first day of spring.

It's the 20th on my English calendar though.

Maybe it should really be the 10th? 🤔

YANBU. Spring starts on the 21st March
.

.

And what (in an average year) is more “springlike”, mid-March or mid-June.... mid-March of course, despite the fact it’s in the astronomical winter.

@BillywigSting - Feb 1st is Imbolc. Goes back way before Christianity and the poaching of the goddess Bridget by the Christians who renamed her as St Bridget.

But in my opinion it has nothing to do with ‘feeling springlike’ and everything to do with the movement and alignment of the planet.
If we keep shifting the first day of spring to when it feels right or based on a arbitrary date on the man made calendar then we have less chance of noticing climate change.

The OP is not being unreasonable. As for weather presenters, most are merely autocue readers and not real meteorologists, and usually women under 40.

forallthesaints why is their age and gender relevant, out of interest? Do you think being a woman under 40 precludes you from being knowledgeable?

Based on light, the summer and winter solstice are midsummer and midwinter respectively, and the spring and autumn equinox are mid spring and mid autumn. The temperature follows about 6 weeks behind.

So based on light, spring starts about a week into February, based on temperature, on the spring equinox. 1st March is a good compromise that makes things easier as it matches up with the calendar months.

We are well into Spring by 21st March, even by Scottish standards. And it's pushing it a bit to say summer lasts until 21st September.

By this point in the year, and after Snowmadgedon last weekend, I am more than glad to be in spring.