No August is not the start of Autumn

(that's just been beaten above though - how the fcuk can the month with the summer solstice not even be in summer?)

This confuses me. Summer Solatice in August!!!

Why would a month where plants are starting to die off be considered Summer when a month like May when plants are strating to come into full bloom not be considered summer.

In my mind it should be based on Daylight hours, that is consistint.

I'm afraid you can't see the forest for the trees.

Seasons are man-made. In other countries/climates, they may have less or more than 4 seasons. Seasons are a means to group together days of the year based on common characteristics, nearly always climate-based (you will typically hear of dry/monsoon/post-monsoon etc), but if it is easier for you, think of them as Season A, Season B, Season C etc. In our part of the world, we divide the year into 4 seasons using 2 different scientific-based systems.

• One, a climate based one called meteorological seasons strictly adheres to the Gregorian calendar. It divides the year into 4 subsets of exactly 3 months each (regardless of the number of days in the month/year), with a season called "Spring" starting on March 1st.
• The other system, a solar based one called astronomical seasons, strictly adheres to the solar cycle and divides the year into 4 subsets (ignoring months, with the varying sizes). It too has a season called "Spring" that may start on a different day depending on the year, but typically around the 20th of March as it was this year.

While both are recognised, it is the meteorological one that is most commonly used and is used by the state.

A final calendar, unique to Ireland, is a mishmash of everything, sometimes referred to as the Irish calendar. Although we are not sure when it was invented, it was likely some time in the dark ages as early christian missionaries and monks tried to reconcile religious symbols and festivals with traditional festivals using the now defunct Julian calendar. While it tries to address both climate and solar lifecycle (especially given the multitude of BS arguments on this thread), it does not strictly adhere to anything. It starts spring earlier than the 2 normal systems because it has decided that Feb 1st, St Brigid's day, should be the start of the season called "Spring".

It is not regarded as official, and is typically referred to only from a "traditional" perspective.

Now, to top it off, a lot of people on here keep screaming about Pre christian seasons etc. What will really blow your mind is that, while we don't know exactly what their calendar looked like (and did all celtic tribes adhere to the 1 calendar?), we do know they really only focused on the light part of the year, and the dark part of the year (2 seasons), mainly followed an 8-day week and, you'll love this one as it ties perfectly in to your argument - they regarded the day as beginning at sunset!!!

And with that, I'm out. I cannot explain it any simpler. I have pointed to countless sources (while those in disagreement have offered none). I didn't invent any of these systems, I'm simply trying to explain it. Likewise, I'm not responsible for our education system (or lack of education as the case may be here).

Instead of sticking to your guns and fighting with religious fervour for whatever version you were taught when you were a little child, perhaps you should use this time to think about it and educate yourself further, before choosing a preferred system. As the old saying goes: before you make up your mind - open it.

What are you on about? I don't follow Saint Brigid's Day as the start of Spring. I follow February 1 as the start of Spring because it is midway between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox.

And for your information the state does NOT determine what the seasons are. Science and Nature and clever people who observe Science and Nature do that. Clever people like ancient druids and observers of the cycle of nature/the Sun/the stars and planets determined how the seasons fell. Morons in cults like the Church or government stated otherwise.

Clever cookies like Gallileo determined that the Earth circled the Sun. Morons in the Church or the STATE said he was wrong.

Since when have you witnessed a tree in full glorious bloom go from a majestic oak or elm or sycamore to a bare skeleton with a mountain of dead brown leaves below in one day? Your statement has to be one of the dumbest things I've read in months.

OP you are wrong here. 100%

21st June is Midsummer. Each season is 3months long (12/4).

So summer is 3 months long(90days give or take). If Midsummer is the middle day of summer, stands to reason there is 1.5months either side of this day. As such 45 days before 21st June is 6th May (if my maths are right). 45 days after is 5th Aug.

Round that to nearest month and it's May, June & July.

QED.

There is a wikpedia user who contributed to the "talk" section for that wiki page on 21st April ranting about the Catholic Church. 😉 .

One of his reference links was a link to the Sun. The newspaper that is 😂

Here's one for you.......prior to Man even evolving the Sun was crossing the Equator and the Tropics. For millions of years. This was long before calendars or saints or idiots in dresses talking about dead humans. This was before humans even existed. Now tell me that the summer solstice, a MILLION years ago was not the highlight of sunlight and the Winter Solstice was not its nadir. Even during the ICE AGE the seasons revolved.It doesn't matter whether the woolly Mammoth or the Sabre-Toothed tiger tramped around in the snow. The seasons are defined by the Sun.

Caesar Augustus would not be impressed with being told he belongs in the autumn.He would have you on a cross in jig time

But that evergreen coniferous in winter.....you know the pine tree and not shedding its pines or cones and it is warm at 15C in December must mean its Summer.

If the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, surely winter starts 6 weeks before and finishes at the end of 6 weeks after.. The same with Summer, 6 weeks either side of the solstice. I was in secondary school before I managed to figure out that’s why December was the middle month of winter and June was the middle month of summer, so spring and autumn fell into place too, 6 weeks either side of the equinoxes. It made sense to me.

Now it appears I got it wrong but I honestly don’t understand why they say the astronomical seasons start from the solstices and equinoxes.

I don’t mind the meteorological convention because really, around the Med no way is August autumn, it’s the hottest month of the year, although September can be changeable .