That's another thing it verrys alot from North to South in the UK.  That's why a 3 month segment starting the 1st of each month makes it much more simple for the UK overall. 

Why some care what start date is used for each season baffles me. 

It's an irrelevance.

I think, when you're a parent and the return to school is the beginning of September, it neatly ties off the summer mindset. So summer ending at the end of August fits from a psychological perspective.

Also, I find the weather's usually better in June. And there's the long days, too. It's dark around 8 now - hardly summery! (and that's with the artificially later sunset times through BST)

I've always thought of June as a summer month and September as an autumn month. It's convenient and more accurate.

 

Dec/Jan/ early Feb = winter 

Mid Feb/ March/ Apr/ early May = spring

Mid May/June/Jul/Aug/ First half SEP = summer

Late sep/Oct/Nov = autumn 

June, July & August = summer

September to May = autumn

 

 

June, July & August = summer

September to May = autumn

that true there no winter season at all, that only called winter for UK latitude is snow, ice and sub-zero days but without that Autumn persist and it been boring Autumnal since late August this year so hope to get some decent sunny days then get warmer during Queen funeral date onward so that welcome. to keep heating off 100% in Sept.  Very soon we will see what October bring but hope to be a repeat of 1995 October as it been well over due for warm Oct since 2011.

 

What record potential is there? The date record is over 30C and there's surely no danger of that being broken?

There was a story on my Windows feed, but its clear the date record is safe, but night time temp will be high, perhaps that is the record they were talking about

 

Dec/Jan/ early Feb = winter 

Mid Feb/ March/ Apr/ early May = spring

Mid May/June/Jul/Aug/ First half SEP = summer

Late sep/Oct/Nov = autumn 

Also valid. Though temp wise, I think potential minima plays a factor in people's perceptions as well. Low temps and frosts only rarely occur from late June/July thourgh to early Aug, but become more frequent from the end of Aug up until late May or early June even. Grant it, late Aug and Sept can also record some of the warmest nights of the year as well. 

In terms of weather and temps, this breakdown is just a valid in my opinion. 

Jan/Feb/Mar = Winter

Apr/May/Jun = Spring

Jul/Aug/Sept = Summer

Oct/Nov/Dec = Autumn 

I'd be happy with that TBH – also matches the business quarters which are often called by those names as shorthand (winter quarter, spring quarter etc)

 

Also valid. Though temp wise, I think potential minima plays a factor in people's perceptions as well. Low temps and frosts only rarely occur from late June/July thourgh to early Aug, but become more frequent from the end of Aug up until late May or early June even. Grant it, late Aug and Sept can also record some of the warmest nights of the year as well. 

Frost down here is nonexistent from late April (usually mid) and doesn't return in until October - athough frostless Octobers are not unusual. May is actually a rather unpredictable month here as it's the month that we transition into overnight double digit lows, but the timing can be anywhere from the first week to the last week. For growing tomatoes I usually wait until the end of the second week before planting outside.

 

 

 

 

It's an irrelevance.

I think, when you're a parent and the return to school is the beginning of September, it neatly ties off the summer mindset. So summer ending at the end of August fits from a psychological perspective.

Also, I find the weather's usually better in June. And there's the long days, too. It's dark around 8 now - hardly summery! (and that's with the artificially later sunset times through BST)

I've always thought of June as a summer month and September as an autumn month. It's convenient and more accurate.

Not sure about that – if you look at record highs I think September holds the whip hand over June, quite easily. 

 

There was a story on my Windows feed, but its clear the date record is safe, but night time temp will be high, perhaps that is the record they were talking about

 

It actually warmed up here after midnight with an overnight low of 18.4C which for mid September is impressive. Probably not a record breaker though.

 

Frost down here is nonexistent from late April (usually mid) and doesn't return in until October - although frostless Octobers are not unusual. May is actually a rather unpredictable month here as it's the month that we transition into overnight double digit lows, but the timing can be anywhere from the first week to the last week. For growing tomatoes I usually wait until the end of the second week before planting outside.

Going by the last few years, I think you could amend that to include frostless Novembers

 

Going by the last few years, I think you could amend that to include frostless Novembers

Very true. I always remember the time around bonfire night was often frosty when I was younger but these days they're not. 

80f in London today probably the last time this year. 

80f in London today probably the last time this year. 

Bit bad this time as the summer was cut off early from mid-August after the heatwave and now just scrapped 80F but not very nice so I more look forward to 70F and sunny next weekend onward after a sunny cool days during the week.  25C in Letchworth today with lot of clouds so take your pick, cloudy 25C or sunny 20-21C? The latter one will give indoor temps higher than today indoor temps.

Not sure about that – if you look at record highs I think September holds the whip hand over June, quite easily. 

On average, max temps in June are around 1c above thoise in Sept, and min temps around 0.5c higher.

Sunshine hours are around 200 hours in June and 150 hours in Sept.

Obviously some small differences across the UK, but in every station data I've skimmed through, on average June is warmer and sunnier than September.

It's therefore got more claim to be a summer month

And, like I say, it fits more conveniently.

80f in London today probably the last time this year. 

I wouldn't bet on that...

Could be quite a wet 24hrs for the far south.

 

Very true. I always remember the time around bonfire night was often frosty when I was younger but these days they're not. 

spent rockets.

Those were the days of coal fires and thick fog. (London)

Could be quite a wet 24hrs for the far south.

The trough in S England, shown as a minor feature over the last couple of days, now appears to be much more active for areas as far north as Oxford.

WX temp summary - not much to add to yesterday the battle between cooler air from the NE and warmer air on Atlantic coasts continues, though neither much below or above norm respectively. By comparison with yesterday, the cooler air succeeds in advancing to E France & the shores of the Med in week 2, S Britain and W France hanging on to the last of the warmth. though I not a small patch of very warm quite local to S Biscay week 1 - see 'unusual world weather' thread - and the colder air also down to Turkey in week 2 (but with the Black Sea an 'island' of contrasting warmth with the land around it.

Rain in a ring around Poland in week 1 as yesterday though a bit further east so Britain is outside the ring and dry-ish; week 2 is forecast differently with the ring breaking up and wet weather moving in from the Atlantic en masse.

GFS Op consistent with yesterday; Danielle and Earl filling  to the S of UK (perhaps more slowly than shown yesterday), then HP appearing to the W of Ireland with N-lies from Thu 15th moving E-wards to cover Britain Tue 20th translating into a SW-NE ridge before Atlantic W-lies take over from Sat 24th; quite a deep LP 970mb Faeroes to start with but soon settling down to the usual LP near Iceland, HP from SW England S-wards.

ECM similar but HP further W of Ireland to start with so N-lies while not strong are more extensive; then the Lp Sat 24th is not so deep so W-lies less strong.

GEFS in the S currently warm with some rain, while the N is near norm and dry; all areas cool and dry-ish from Thu 15th for a week after which temps near norm (though quite a lot of variation between ens members sets in) and small amounts of rain then expected.

GFS 12z continues the dry high pressure borefest and takes it to new levels.