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So… when exactly IS the first day of spring here in London?

Well, the short answer is that officially it is tomorrow the 21st March. However, if we look at the true definition of spring it is today – Friday 20th March. Let’s investigate.

Spring tends to arrive between the 19th to the 23rd of March but it changes on a yearly basis. This is because the first official day of spring is the Vernal or ‘spring ‘ Equinox. This is when the sun is directly above the equator – when it rises due East and sets due West. It does not do so on the exact same day every year because the calendar is not exactly the same length every year. This morning the sun was above the equator, crossing to the northern hemisphere, at 5:48 GMT. So we are most definitely now into the new season.

For the Southern Hemisphere, this is the moment of the autumnal equinox. For those who are interested, the word ‘Vernal’ comes originally from the Latin word for bloom and refers to the fact that, in the northern hemisphere, this equinox marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. An equinox is a time when the nights are as long as the days and the vernal equinox is recognised the world over as the start of the new astrological cycle.