Page "Summer" Paragraph 1

From an astronomical view, the equinoxes and solstices would be the middle of the respective seasons, but a variable seasonal lag means that the meteorological start of the season, which is based on average temperature patterns, occurs several weeks later than the start of the astronomical season.

According to meteorologists, summer extends for the whole months of June, July, and August in the northern hemisphere and the whole months of December, January, and February in the southern hemisphere.

Under meteorological definitions, all seasons are arbitrarily set to start at the beginning of a calendar month and end at the end of a month.

This meteorological definition of summer also aligns with the commonly viewed notion of summer as the season with the longest ( and warmest ) days of the year, in which daylight predominates.

The meteorological reckoning of seasons is used in Austria, Denmark and the former USSR ; it is also used by many in the United Kingdom, where summer is thought of as extending from mid-May to mid-August.

In Ireland, the summer months according to the national meteorological service, Met Éireann, are June, July and August.

However, according to the Irish Calendar summer begins 1 May and ends 1 August.

School textbooks in Ireland follow the cultural norm of summer commencing on 1 May rather than the meteorological definition of 1 June.