When do seasons start? Celtic Calendar vs Meteorological

[EarthSight]

I have been walking to work and hiking for almost 20 years now, and over time, my perception of when each season starts has changed, based on my observations of nature. For me, here is the seasonal calendar roughly -

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

I've since learnt that this is in line with the old Celtic calendar. My views on the seasons changed after I saw how trees started to flag and the leaves lost their lustre as early as August in some cases, and often there was already an autumnal feel by the end of that month. However, for a long time,I saw August as very much summer due to the school holiday calendar.

Recently, spring feels like it's in the air and now I've learnt that the start of spring was traditionally celebrated on the 1st of February (Imbolc or Feast of St Brigid).

I've always felt that May felt quite summery. We often have better weather here in Wales in May & June (like we did this year too), rather than July or August. Perhaps it's unsurprising given that in Welsh, July literally translates to 'End of Summer'.

Does the Celtic calendar makes sense where you live in the U.K?

No - YABU
Yes - YANBU

No it doesn't align here in Southern England very well because Winter and Spring tend to be shorter here than Summer and Autumn

No, I think seasons have moved a bit later though eg September can be warm, snow in March. I'm in London

I suppose wherever you put the boundaries, you get "leakage", as in the month at the start is rather like the previous season. Personally I just can't think of February as spring. It's still dark at 5.15pm, I'm still in my jumpers and there is no sign of any leaves on the trees. I agree with the PP who said the seasons are maybe not evenly split into three month chunks.

I’m in Wales too, but no, that’s not the seasons I experience here in north Wales.

It varies each year, as well as by area, elevation etc. I'd probably shift them by at least a couple of weeks. There are signs of spring here (lancashire) - snowdrops, crocuses, even the odd daffodil - but I wouldn't say we're quite done with winter.

I'm in North Wales as well.

Yes that's what I meant really. I could feel a shift in the air, can hear more birdsong and it doesn't really feel wintery here any more, but would classify it at the very beginnings of spring, not the middle.

I agree with you, OP. My birthday is at the end of August and it's normally feeling quite autumnal by then. May is usually summery too.

I think spring is more mid February to mid May. Summer mid May to mid August (Rose of Tralee in Ireland) . Autumn mid August to mid Nov. Then it's Winter, we never have snow before my birthday in mid Nov.
It is strange daylight in Cork at 5.30 this evening. Praise the Celtic gods and St Brigid.

I'm with you because my mum is pagan and growing up we always celebrated the change in seasons with the following:

Imbolc on 2nd February - It's still cold, but the world is just beginning to wake up after it's long sleep, crocuses and snowdrops are out and birds are looking for nesting sites. Animals are often mating around this time, ready to give birth by established spring.

Beltane on 1st May - The first day of Summer. My favourite :)

Lammas on 1st August - Start of Autumn/Harvest. It's still hot and can be for a while but the word is ripe and abundant. It's time to harvest and store for winter.

Samhain on 31st October - Last day of Autumn, Winter begins the next day.

These line up so much better with the solstices and equinoxes too.

Obviously everything is reversed if you are in the southern hemisphere

I'm in Scotland and winter is definitely all February and most of march
I would go with if precisely 3 months
Winter as December to Feb
spring March- may
summer june - August
Autumn Sept - Nov

it rarely if ever snows before December but it frequently snows in February
Spring is later as you go North in the UK apparently there is a 8 week lag between spring in the Channel islands ( southernmost Uk) and the Shetland islands ( Northernmost )
Many in North of Scotland would say winter was 4 months mid nov to mid march, spring 2 months mid march to May Summer June to mid august then autumn mid august to november

It's not just about temperature and weather though, it's about nature's behaviour

We had snow and minus temperatures a week or so ago and it's still freezing, so no i don't consider it spring!

13th February is officially Spring in South Asia so in my head I am un Spring cleaning mode.

In Ireland we teach…
Winter -November, December, January
Spring - February, March, April
Summer- May, June, July
Autumn - August, September, October

@orangesandlemonssaythebellsofstclements but nature doesn't divide neatly into 3 month periods, as I said spring starts 8 weeks (birds nest later, spring flowers are later, leaf buds are later) in far north of Scotland than in southern England for instance first lambs in southern UK are already born, in the farms by us first lambs will be april
The further north you go the shorter the summer season, hence why northern scotland doesn' t grow wheat but can grow oats and barley
if you go even further north the summer season from when snow melts and flowers appear to the next snow is 4-5 months absolute max, nature does change with latitude, the growing season is too short for many crops as you go further north and breeding season is packed into a smaller window, so the seasons are different depending where you are

Ikwym, but I think it's because nature works on a continuum rather than in step changes. I feel the seasonal vibes most strongly on the meteorological seasons.

So spring march-may, summer june-aug, autumn sept-nov, winter dec-feb.

But for a good 2 weeks either side, there's a build-up/transition going on out there that's really tangible.

And, within the seasons, there are phases you can really attune to - an early spring morning has a completely different feel to a peak spring morning, and again as spring evolves into summer it feels different-even with the same weather/temperature. The light levels, the scenes in the air, the activity in nature all shift subtly and continually and I think it's magical.

This topic was covered in the Irish Times last week, turns out there are loads of correct answers to the question!!
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.irishtimes.com/life-style/2025/02/01/when-is-the-start-of-spring-this-contentious-question-might-be-what-truly-divides-the-irish-and-english/%23:~:text%3DThe%2520traditional%2520Irish%2520seasons%2520of,and%2520Samhain%2520are%2520different%2520again.%25E2%2580%259D%26text%3DSo%2520meteorological%2520spring%2520starts%2520on,spring%2520starts%2520on%2520February%25201st.&ved=2ahUKEwiHlI6jyaqLAxXIZ0EAHS9dMb4QFnoECCYQBQ&sqi=2&usg=AOvVaw1W7T7qVjAtmSiNuHhmmEIf

Sorry for the long link, I can't seem to shorten it.

I think it's too random. Recently March/April has often been very hot - notably April 2020 where a lot of those on furlough spent time sitting in their gardens.
Equally there has been heavy snow here in northern England in other years.

June and August are often both cold and rainy, whereas it's not unusual for September and October and even November to be much more pleasant. I remember hiking in early November, marvelling at the glorious weather and getting sunburnt.

Sorry it seems the page you linked has gone for me

That's interesting, you're right, there is a difference, I wonder if it's as big as you say though.
I live in Southern England, and have done for over 20 years now but I'm from Scotland, albeit Glasgow, not northern Scotland.
Definitely no Spring lambs here just yet, but I expect the first will arrive around the end of this month or early next month, and my farmer friend says his busiest lambing month is April.
I don't remember a huge difference in nature's behaviour between here and Glasgow though, although it was much colder!
I've always noticed the world juuust beginning to wake up around early February in both places. I don't mean baby animals and flowers, I mean the end of the total stillness IYSWIM. So birds looking for nesting sites and not nesting yet, and that sort of thing.

I’m definitely with you, OP. The seasons are always ahead of what people imagine. Midsummer for me is around traditional midsummer day: 24 June. Same for winter, as for me, the shortest day is the middle of winter. It bemuses me that so many people are surprised to learn that the days are already shortening in July. I think part of the mix up is the the warmest days are in July and August: speeding into autumn, not high summer. You can tell by looking at the fruit and veg that’s in season.

I’m just outside London and can’t think of August as autumn whatsoever. Not unless we’re on holiday in Scotland, then yes, it can feel a little autumnal, but then we come home and it’s summer again! The beginning of August is only a week into the summer holidays here.

February definitely feels like winter still. May can be quite warm, but can’t get my head around it being summer. And November feels more autumn than winter.

I actually agree. When I moved to the UK I could feel spring coming from February, it made me think of Bambi and how Valentine's made sense !

Irishtimes are terrible for paywalls. Rte, Claire Byrne covered it this morning if you Google...I think it's available in uk?
It might be daylight in Cork but can feel like midwinter on St Patrick's Day sometimes.