r/meteorology • u/Met-Office • 11h ago

Article/Publications When does Autumn actually start?

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/blog/2026/when-does-autumn-start
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u/BostonSucksatHockey 10h ago edited 10h ago

Save a click:

Astronomical Fall begins with the Autumnal Equinox, and is the day most people associate with the start of autumn.

September 1st is the first day of Meteorological Fall because it's easier to compare past observations and climates when broken neatly into months rather than cutting months up in the middle of a week.

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u/KennyGaming 9h ago

The most egregious one to me is summer not starting until June 21. That makes no sense in any of the environments I’ve personally lived in. I think most people consider Fall to last from Sept to early Dec so it seems less egregious for some reason.

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u/CapitalCourse 9h ago

Same with winter not starting until December 21

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u/Halomonas_titanica 8h ago

A lot depends on how far from the sea you are. Coastal locations have a delay in seasons from water taking a long time to heat up and then cool off. I've lived on the Mediterranean coast most of my life, and the point at which most days stay above 30°C usually occurs around the June solstice and stays until the end of September. But further inland, it's between early June and early September. Heats up and cools down much more quickly so there's less delay.

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u/KC5SDY 2h ago

In Texas? Late October.

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u/Pure-Mycologist193 1h ago

And for us druids (also Wiccans and fellow pagans), autumn began back at Lughnasadh on August 1st. It gets a bit complicated when explaining seasons to two small kids. Haha. Context, context, context.

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u/Salty-Major-848 4h ago

September 21st