Time

When do the clocks go back?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 08:28:13 +0000

When do the clocks go back? Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/10/2024 - 08:28

On the last Sunday of October in the UK, the clocks go back by one hour.

It may feel like a long time since the blue skies of summer, but the moment when the clocks go back marks the end of British Summer Time (BST).

Good news: it also means an extra hour in bed.

An easy way to remember which way the clocks change is to think of the seasons: in spring the clocks ‘spring forward', while in autumn they 'fall back'.

The clocks will go back in the UK on Sunday 25 October 2026 at 2am.

Learn more about why the UK changes the clocks and the history of daylight saving time with Royal Observatory Greenwich.

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Why do the clocks change?

Daylight saving, or summer time, is a mechanism to make the most of increased summer daylight hours in the northern hemisphere.

In the UK, once summer is over the clocks change back in order to revert to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

A campaign at the beginning of the 20th century successfully argued in favour of changing the clocks during the summer months to avoid wasting time in the morning.

Some of the arguments in favour of changing the clocks include:

reducing energy consumption for environmental reasons
having longer evenings to support leisure and tourism
encouraging people to exercise more outdoors
reducing road accidents.

There are also arguments against daylight savings time and changing the clocks, including:

The inconvenience of changing the clocks twice a year
Safety concerns about darker mornings
Some farmers have expressed concern about the effect of changing routines for livestock
Some argue that changing the clocks is now redundant given that many of us spend most of our time in well-lit homes, shops and offices, where the amount of daylight makes little difference to our lives
Similarly, the economic and environmental advantages can vary: for some warmer regions, it’s thought that longer evenings may actually increase energy consumption as people use air-conditioning units for more hours

It’s an ongoing debate that strongly depends on people’s geographical location, occupation and lifestyle.

History of daylight saving time

1784 - Benjamin Franklin first suggested the idea of daylight saving time in a whimsical article.
1907 - An Englishman and keen horse rider, William Willett, campaigned to advance clocks in spring and summer and return them in the autumn. His rather complicated plan was to advance clocks by 80 minutes, in four separate moves of 20 minutes each.
1908 - The House of Commons rejected a Bill to advance the clocks by one hour during the spring and summer months.
1916 - The Summer Time Act was passed, ordaining that for a certain period during the year legal time should be one hour in advance of GMT. Double summer time (GMT + 2 hours) was used during the Second World War.

Why don't the clocks change at the Royal Observatory?

"We deliberately keep most of our historic clocks on GMT all year round as they were mainly used before the first daylight saving came into effect in 1916," explains Curator of the Royal Observatory Louise Devoy.

"Visitors arriving at the Observatory in the summer are often confused by the apparent delay shown on the Shepherd Gate Clock but as Britain’s first public clock to show GMT, we’re proud to continue this tradition," she says.

"The most significant change is our Dolphin sundial which needs to be adjusted four times a year: at the solstices (June and December) and when the clocks change (March and October)."

The use of different dial rims for Greenwich Mean Time and British Summer Time, and of the two different hour-plates with the hour lines marked, means that the Dolphin sundial at the Royal Observatory is accurate whatever the time of year.

Watch the Dolphin Sundial change

Why do the clocks go back at the weekend?

This pattern of change was chosen because it occurs on a Saturday night/Sunday morning and would therefore be the least disruptive option for schools and businesses.

What happens if I'm working when the clocks go back?

Of course, not everyone is tucked up in bed at 2am; employees who are scheduled to work a night shift at this time may find themselves working an extra hour when the clocks go back to 1am.

Night workers are often advised to check their contracts and discuss the situation with their employer. By law however, night workers must not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period.

Will my clock update automatically when the clocks change?

Most devices with internet connection, such as smartphones, computers and other digital devices should automatically update.

Some watches and clocks in cars and kitchens for example may not change on their own however, so make sure you are ready to wind back.

Do other countries change the clocks?

About 70 countries have some form of daylight saving time, but it varies from region to region.

Much of Europe and North America, as well as parts of South America and Australasia, change their clocks. However, many countries in Africa and Asia situated around the equator do not change the time.

The USA has daylight saving time, but not all states change their clocks. Arizona does not use DST (apart from the semi-autonomous Navajo Nation), and neither does Hawaii. Indiana introduced daylight saving time in 2006.

In March 2022, the US Senate passed a bill known as the Sunshine Protection Act, which proposed ending time changes from spring 2023. However, the bill wasn't taken up in the House of Representatives, and so for now there is no change.

The issue has been debated in the European Union too.

In 2019, the European Parliament backed a proposal to end the practice of changing the clocks in European Union states. However, no final decision has yet been taken on the matter. For now countries in the EU continue to switch to summer time on the last Sunday in March and back to their standard time on the last Sunday in October.

Find more stories you might like

Time before Greenwich Mean Time: the confusing case of the traveller's watch

Before time became standardised, different areas of the country all kept their own 'local time'. This gold traveller's watch with two minute hands shows how tricky that could be

What is the Prime Meridian and why is it in Greenwich?

How Greenwich found its place in the centre of global time and navigation

History of the BBC pips

Discover the story behind the Greenwich time pips, first broadcast by the BBC over 100 years ago in 1924

British Summer Time (BST) and Daylight Saving - understanding UK time changes

Why does UK time change, and when was British Summer Time first introduced? Explore the history of BST and daylight saving

The lost chronometer: the timepiece that sailed with Charles Darwin and Sir John Franklin

Freya Richards — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 12:27:37 +0000

The lost chronometer: the timepiece that sailed with Charles Darwin and Sir John Franklin Freya Richards Thu, 02/15/2024 - 12:27

One of my favourite chronometers in our collection is perhaps an unlikely candidate to get excited about.

All that remains of this once highly accurate timepiece used to navigate at sea is the upper half of the box and an ivory plaque that allows us to identify the instrument as made by James Moore French in 1828 with the serial number 4214.

So what's so remarkable about an empty chronometer box?

Journey of a time traveller

Despite its unappealing appearance now, 'French 4214' was once a prized chronometer with a remarkable history.

It journeyed on some very interesting 19th-century expeditions, including HMS Beagle's voyage to the Galapagos with Charles Darwin and the doomed Franklin expedition aboard HMS Erebus.

Wooden brass-bound mahogany chronometer box (AAA2233)

The Admiralty purchased 'French 4214' in 1828 for use on Royal Navy ships. It immediately accompanied Henry Foster, a brilliant naval captain and astronomer with a promising naval career, on board HMS Chanticleer, a scientific expedition to measure variations in gravity using pendulums across the Atlantic Ocean.

Fifteen chronometers were issued to help measure meridian differences, or differences of longitude, between ports and islands in the Atlantic. Unfortunately, Foster’s career was cut short as he fell from his canoe and was drowned in the Chagres River while measuring longitudes in Panama.

'French 4214' returned to England and was subsequently issued in 1831 to the second voyage of HMS Beagle with Captain Robert FitzRoy, accompanied by the now-famous Charles Darwin.

HMS Beagle in Sydney harbour (PAD8969)

Alongside 21 other chronometers, 'French 4214' helped measure a chain of meridian distances around the globe and survey the coast of South America. After five years and 40,000 miles, 'French 4214' returned to the Royal Observatory in need of repair and maintenance.

Lost in the ice

The chronometer's fate was sealed when it was issued to HMS Erebus in 1845. Two Royal Navy ships, HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, captained by Sir John Franklin set off on a scientific expedition to the Arctic.

They were last seen in the summer of 1845, after which they were never heard from again. In 1848, the Admiralty launched the first of many searches in the hope of finding the expedition.

In 1849 a note was found describing how the ships had got stuck in the ice and were abandoned by the crew in 1848. Franklin had died a year earlier. Despite multiple rescue attempts, no survivors were ever found; both ships and 129 crew had seemingly disappeared.

The disaster captured the Victorian imagination and a total of 39 missions were sent to the Arctic to establish what had happened. Despite this, it was not until 2014 that Parks Canada found the wreck of HMS Erebus, followed by the discovery of HMS Terror in 2016.

A diver recovers a decanter from the wreck of HMS Erebus (© Parks Canada)

Mysteries of the Arctic

American explorer Charles Francis Hall commanded one of the search expeditions in 1869. He later wrote that he found the box of 'French 4214' along with the remnants of a boat, an oak sledge-runner, part of the mast of the ship, two sheets of copper, a mahogany writing desk, parts of watches and silverware.

During the expedition, Hall shot a crew member whom he accused of attempting mutiny; he was never tried for the murder. Three years later he headed out on his third and final expedition, commanding the USS Polaris in an attempt to reach the North Pole. He would never return.

Less than six months after the Polaris departed in 1871, Hall accused German medical officer Emil Bessels of attempting to poison him. Hall died a couple of days later. An exhumation in 1968 revealed that his body had high levels of arsenic, but as arsenic was commonly found in medical kits, whether this was accidental or malicious remains unproven.

We hold many more relics of the Franklin expedition in our collection, found during various attempts to discover its fate. These include many watch and case parts and three pocket chronometers.

Pocket chronometer from Sir John Franklin's last expedition (AAA2203)

Two of these we can identify using the chronometer ledgers that staff at the Royal Observatory kept. These ledgers detailed the movements of chronometers between ships, dockyards, instrument makers and the Royal Observatory.

It is fortunate that the ivory plaque on 'French 4214' survived, enabling us to identify the instrument. On two of the pocket watches, the name and number of the maker are still legible on the dial, which is enough information to find the relevant entrance in the record books.

Searching the chronometer ledgers

The ledger books and cards contain approximately 14,000 pages of chronometers and the history of their use at sea. These historical records are unique and will allow many avenues for detailed research. It is unusual to study the history of use of a navigational instrument in such proportions as these records allow us to do.

Because of this information, we not only know that the Admiralty issued 'French 4214' to the HMS Chanticleer, HMS Beagle and HMS Erebus. We also learn that another Franklin chronometer, 'Arnold 2020', served on at least nine other ships before its issue to HMS Terror, and that a third, 'P&F 980', had been to the Arctic nearly two decades earlier with William Edward Parry.

Chronometer ledgers for French 4214 and Arnold 2020

1 / 3

Ledger entry for French 4214

2 / 3

Ledger entry for French 4214 noting that it was lost on HMS Erebus

3 / 3

Ledger entry for Arnold 2020

However, the fact that these instruments survived is rare, and many more chronometers have been lost in the line of duty. As these were not all issued to such well-known voyages, they generally tend to go unnoticed in chronometer histories.

For the past decade, volunteers and staff at Royal Museums Greenwich have been attempting to photograph and transcribe these records so that they are available to researchers from a variety of disciplines. Currently, if a researcher wishes to study the history of a particular instrument, the records are straightforward to search. But a full transcription will allow far more information to be more readily available.

For example, from the limited transcription completed so far, we can see that over 10% of chronometers were lost during service. This was either the result of a shipwreck, or simply the instrument itself not returning from the voyage. A small percentage are recorded as stolen, and about 25% were sold post-service.

We could learn a lot more from a complete transcription, which would help us understand the wider context in which they were used and develop new questions for future research. If you are intrigued by this research, or any aspects of instrument use, navigation, and the history of science, please visit the transcription project on Zooniverse.

Join the transcription project

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Header image: HMS Erebus in the Ice, 1846 by Francois Etienne Musin (BHC3325)

Time before Greenwich Mean Time: the confusing case of the traveller's watch

Freya Richards — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 17:11:21 +0000

Time before Greenwich Mean Time: the confusing case of the traveller's watch Freya Richards Mon, 02/12/2024 - 17:11

At first glance, a watch with two hands seems a handy gadget for a tourist travelling between time zones.

One hand could be set to home time and the other to the time of their destination. Simple right?

But if you look closely, you’ll see this watch actually has two minute hands and only one hour hand – not very convenient for an hour’s time difference. In fact, this watch was made decades before time zones were even considered. So what were the two hands for?

Gold local time watch made by Vulliamy, Royal Museums Greenwich collection reference: ZAA0744

What time is it where you are?

In the early 19th century, people in Britain kept time by clocks that were regulated by the Sun, called local mean time. Local mean time varied across Britain from east to west. This is because the Sun rises in the east, and it takes time for it to travel to the west.

So, for someone in Greenwich, noon would occur earlier in the day than for someone in Plymouth. Local mean time in Plymouth was about 16½ minutes behind local mean time at Greenwich, AKA Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Back when people travelled on foot or by coach, these local time differences did not matter much. Travel was slow and the inconvenience of a different time could be overcome by adjusting your watch – assuming you even had one.

This all changed with the introduction of the railways. Travel was faster, and with an ever-expanding rail network a good timetable became essential.

Initially, different railway lines would run using different times. For example, the North Western Railway’s trains ran on Liverpool time going down to London and on London time when returning from London to Liverpool. In addition, each station along the way kept its own local mean time. This could make travelling quite confusing.

In 1845 Henry Booth, a railway businessman involved with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, petitioned parliament for a ‘Uniformity of Time’, and argued that when ‘the great bell of St. Paul’s strikes ONE, simultaneously, every City clock and Village chime, from John of Groat’s to the Land’s End, strikes ONE, also’.

London from Greenwich Park circa 1833, with St Paul's in the background. Print by Mandeville Chevanne (PAD2254)

Railway time, London time or Greenwich time?

1847 was a busy year. Twenty-seven new railway lines were added to the network, the Railway Clearing House (a regulatory body for the railways) recommended all railway stations adopt Greenwich time, and Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy made this watch.

Vulliamy had spent two decades trying to improve public timekeeping. He made public turret clocks across Great Britain. Most were in churches, but he also supplied royal palaces (including Windsor Castle and Hampton Court) and the General Post Office, located in St Martin's le Grand. Vulliamy became very enthused with the idea of standardising public time.

In 1828, he published a pamphlet entitled ‘Some consideration on the subject of Public Clocks’, arguing that none of the public clocks in the capital showed the same time, and if they were to be compared, or personal watches set to a particular time, he suggested ‘St. Paul’s as a standard, not on account of the accuracy with which it measures time, but from its local situation’. In 1845, another publication followed, this one titled ‘On the construction and regulation of clocks for railway stations’.

As some railways had already started using Greenwich time, or 'London time' as it was commonly known, for their timetables, different times could now be found between the station and the local time of the town or city.

After lamenting the ‘great practical inconvenience’ of these differences, Vulliamy suggested that all clocks should show both ‘London time’, which in fact meant Greenwich time, and the local mean time. A gilt minute hand would indicate ‘London time’ and the usual blued steel minute hand would indicate the local time. For many, Greenwich time became synonymous with London time.

Vulliamy’s call led to a discussion between civil engineers, most of whom thought it would be easier to just show Greenwich time, and that the railways should advise and promote ‘a uniformity of time’.

Help was on its way as a new electrical clock system installed at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich allowed the Astronomer Royal George Airy to send time signals to Lewisham station from 1852.

Using telegraph wires, the railways were able to distribute this time to stations across the country. Soon Greenwich time became available to many communities via the railways.

Electrical motor clock. From 1852 to 1893, this motor clock was the heart of Britain's time system. Its time was sent by telegraph wires to London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, Belfast and many other cities (ZAA0531)

The time traveller's watch with two hands

As you can see, this watch is a portable version of Vulliamy’s idea for a two-handed clock, with a gilt hand to show Greenwich time and a steel hand that could be set to the place the traveller visited.

We don’t know who owned the watch, but with its 18-carat-gold case, we can assume this belonged to a wealthy traveller.

The Vulliamy family held a Royal Warrant and were known for producing high-quality pocket watches. Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy was clockmaker to King George IV, William IV and Queen Victoria.

The engraving on the rear reveals that this watch helped a traveller beyond the railway stations, as many of the ports listed were not connected by rail at the time. But travel via rail and sea would have been common, so we can imagine this explorer travelling into Europe, perhaps on a regular basis.

Let’s imagine their journey from Liverpool to Paris. The gilt hand would be set to Greenwich Mean Time, indicating the time railways used for their timetables. While in Liverpool, the blued steel hand would indicate Liverpool time, running 12 minutes behind Greenwich time.

On arrival in Portsmouth, our traveller would need to set this hand forward by 7 minutes and 34 seconds to show Portsmouth time. Arriving in Boulogne, they’d again adjust 10 minutes forward to show the correct time there, and another adjustment of 2 minutes 55 seconds on arrival at Paris.

You can see how this may have been confusing, and why Vulliamy and others campaigned for a 'uniformity of time’. A decade later, many public clocks around the country displayed Greenwich Mean Time.

In many cases, this adaption went smoothly, but in the east and west of the country some people protested this ‘railway-time aggression’.

Eventually, however, in 1880, Greenwich Mean Time became legal time in Great Britain.

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The BBC pips: the Royal Observatory and the Greenwich Time Service

Freya Richards — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 16:34:09 +0000

The BBC pips: the Royal Observatory and the Greenwich Time Service Freya Richards Fri, 02/02/2024 - 16:34

The six-pip time signal was introduced on 5 February 1924. During 66 years of collaboration between the BBC and the Royal Observatory Greenwich, the major global news headlines of the day were preceded by the six Greenwich time 'pips'.

When the BBC broadcast the news of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the Moon, President Kennedy’s assassination, and the destruction of the Berlin Wall, the reports followed the familiar sound of the Greenwich pips.

What’s the time? The need for standardised time

When you need to know the time, what do you do? Do you check your smartphone or smartwatch? Ask someone nearby? You might look at your oven clock, your car clock, or the time displayed on your computer. You could even google ‘what’s the time’! It is fair to say that today we are surrounded by accurate time.

One hundred years ago, many of these things did not exist and public clocks in towns and cities could all show different times. Around 1908, several articles appeared in the newspapers where writers complained about ‘lying clocks’, as too many clocks showed different times and it was hard to know which one was right.

London was seen to be the worst offender. Back then, astronomers at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich determined Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which had been legal time in Britain since 1880. They had a system of electric clocks, where each clock connected by wires showed the same time. These wires extended beyond the Observatory and shared time signals with the railways and post offices, who needed accurate time for their timetables and scheduling.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich mid-1900s

Companies needing accurate time subscribed to the General Post Office (GPO), who for a fee distributed the Greenwich Time Signal. Other businesses and municipalities also relied on ‘synchronised systems’ in which all their clocks ran at the same time.

A well-known supplier of electric clocks was the Synchronome company, led by electrical expert Frank Hope-Jones who played an important role in the history of the six pips. Many businesses got their time from the Standard Time Company, who subscribed to the GPO service and then sold it on through their own networks.

But this did not guarantee it was the right time, as errors could creep in along the way. Only those with a direct line to the Observatory could claim to show accurate Greenwich time.

The BBC and the Royal Observatory team up

In 1924 Lord John Reith, director of the newly formed BBC, felt the company should supply the public with an accurate time signal. Initially, in 1922 the BBC replicated the chimes of Big Ben on tubular bells to signal the time. Later it received an hourly signal from the Standard Time Company.

A drawing of Big Ben by William Lionel Wyllie (PAF0959)

But, following a suggestion by Frank Hope-Jones, John Reith thought the public deserved the best time signal available: one that came directly from the Royal Observatory. The BBC approached Astronomer Royal Frank Dyson, who agreed to connect an accurate clock at the Observatory with the BBC.

An eight-day wall-mounted astronomical regulator by Dent, number 2016

ZAA1293 • Horological Instruments

This astronomical regulator was originally made for use in observing the Transit of Venus in 1874. In 1923 it was adapted as the primary standard for the new six-pip time signal. The clock sent electrical impulses down a telephone wire to the BBC for conversion into audio pips for radio broadcasts.

Find out more about this object

The observatory fitted out one of their regulators, known as 'Dent 2016' (pictured above), with control switches that sent a time signal to the BBC every 30 minutes. By this time, the regulator was already 50 years old with an impressive career.

'Dent 2016' had been to New Zealand in 1874 for the Transit of Venus, and in 1882 travelled to Barbados for the same purpose. In 1892 it spent time in Waterville, Ireland, to help measure the longitude. After that, the regulator was used at the Observatory for another 30 years before it became the six-pip clock.

The firm Dent were well-known for helping the public get accurate time. They made the clock for Big Ben, whose ‘gong’ was initially used by the BBC, and some years earlier, a clock for the Royal Exchange. A year after the Observatory adopted 'Dent 2016' for the pips, they upgraded another clock, 'Dent 2012', as a backup.

The first broadcast of the BBC pips

Timed by 'Dent 2016', the six pips were first broadcast live from the BBC on Tuesday 5 February 1924 at 9.30pm, with special guest Frank Dyson, Astronomer Royal at the Royal Observatory.

Frank Dyson, Astronomer Royal at the Royal Observatory (ZBA1818)

Earlier, in 1923, Frank Hope-Jones had helped listeners get ready for daylight saving time by counting down the last five seconds of the hour just before 10pm, instructing them to adjust their clocks at the last second to 11pm – British Summer Time. It was this countdown that Frank Dyson replicated with an additional sixth pip.

The live broadcast lasted 15 minutes, with Dyson delighting listeners with a history of the Royal Observatory before counting ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6’, with ‘6’ indicating the exact hour.

Initially the pips were not known as the pips: for the first several years newspapers called them the ‘ticks’ or ‘dots’.

Then in 1929, one newspaper referred to them as the six pips. During a broadcast to celebrate the move to the new Broadcasting House on Savoy Hill, Frank Hope-Jones counted down the hour again, but this time repeating the word ‘pip’. The name has stuck ever since.

The end of the BBC pips from Greenwich

By the 1960s timekeeping technologies were rapidly developing.

In the 66 years of collaboration between Royal Observatory Greenwich and the BBC, timekeeping moved from relying on the most accurate pendulum clocks through quartz technology to atomic timekeeping. Leap seconds were introduced, and time was redefined.

An atomic clock in the Royal Museums Greenwich collection (ZBA2599)

In 1972, almost 50 years after the first BBC pips, a major change occurred that not everyone would have noticed. On 1 January listeners no longer received GMT when listening to the six pips. Instead, listeners tuned into Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which was introduced at midnight.

The UTC system was a new timescale based on the Earth’s rotation and International Atomic Time. It was far more precise than GMT. Time was no longer determined by astronomers looking at the stars with clocks and telescopes.

A BBC microphone commemorating 66 years of the Greenwich Time Signal (ZBA0756)

By the 1990s this technology had developed even further, and it was possible for the BBC to buy its own equipment to supply accurate time signals. The Royal Observatory was also downsizing, and during its move to Cambridge in 1990 the time department was disbanded.

The last six pips were transmitted from the Royal Observatory on 5 February 1990, on the 66th anniversary of the pips. The BBC marked the occasion by offering the Royal Observatory a presentation microphone.

But this was not the end for the Dent clocks: they are now cherished objects in the Royal Museums Greenwich collections and if you’d like to see them and learn more, do visit the Royal Observatory in Greenwich where 'Dent 2016' is proudly on display.

Dr Emily Akkermans is Curator of Time at the Royal Observatory

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What is a nocturnal?

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 16:10:40 +0000

What is a nocturnal? Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/30/2023 - 16:10

Imagine you’re in a dark countryside location, away from city lights, on a clear starry night. At first, the stars appear motionless, but as you keep looking back up at the sky over several hours, you realise that they’re actually moving around a central point. Some observers use cameras and long exposures to capture stunning ‘star trails’ produced by the apparent movement of the stars.

But did you know that you can use this movement to tell the time? For centuries, people used an instrument called a ‘nocturnal’ or ‘nocturlabe’ to tell the time based on the motion/movement of the stars. Here at the Royal Observatory Greenwich we have a fantastic collection of nocturnals that you can see online and in-person in our displays. Scroll down to find out more about these historic timekeepers.

Nocturnal made by Eufrosino della Volpaia, 1516, Italy (collections reference AST0117) © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

How do nocturnals work?

The nocturnal is based on the idea of circumpolar stars. The ‘circum-’ part refers to how they appear to rotate around or ‘circumnavigate’ the celestial poles, hence the last part, ‘-polar’. Circumpolar stars never set below the horizon at your latitude so they’re visible all the time, even during daylight hours.

Polaris is the star closest to the north celestial pole, the point lying directly above the Earth’s North pole. As the Earth spins on its axis, Polaris appears to be stationary while the other stars move around it in an anti-clockwise circle once every 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds (1 sidereal day).

From Earth to Polaris © Emad Nematollahi - shortlisted in Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023

If you’re based in Europe, around 40-60 degrees north latitude (London is 51.5°N), you can use this motion like a giant clock in the sky. There are two stars in the constellation of Ursa Major (the ‘Big Bear’), at the end of a group of stars known as the ‘Plough’ (or ‘Big Dipper’ in the US) that always point towards Polaris so we can use them like the hour hand to work out the number of hours with our nocturnal.

Illustration © nojhan/Claire Laudy — CC-BY-SA, via Wikimedia Commons

How to use a nocturnal

Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Move the small, short pointer to today’s date on the calendar scale around the outer edge

2. Face the northern part of the sky and hold up the instrument vertically

3. Align it carefully so that Polaris is visible through the central hole

4. Align the straight edge of the long pointer with the two pointer stars in the sky

5. Read off the time by the hours listed around the edge. You can count the number of hours in the dark by feeling the number of jagged teeth around the scale.

Have a look at this video made by our friends at the Museo Galileo in Florence, Italy:

When did people first start using nocturnals?

Nocturnals were used by mathematicians, astronomers and navigators during the period 1400-1800. The first printed description of the nocturnal (‘horologium noctis’ in Latin) appeared in 1524 in the astronomical textbook Cosmographia by the mathematics professor Peter Apian.

The reader was encouraged to cut out the diagram and glue the revolving plates onto wood or cardboard to make their own instrument. Navigators at sea used wooden versions of the nocturnal to help them measure their local time to within 15 minutes.

Page from Peter Apian’s Cosmograhia with instructions on how to use and make a nocturnal using the cut-out sections © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

Who made these instruments?

Nocturnals were generally made during the period 1500-1700 by instrument makers across Europe, as seen by the maker’s signatures on some of the instruments in our collection:

1500s Eufrosino della Volpaia, Florence, Italy

1500s Falconi, Lombardy, Italy

1589 Amerigo Leonae, Italy

1600 Charles Whitwell, London, UK

1650-1670 John Browne, London, UK

1681 Anthony Sneewins, Delft, Netherlands

1693 Robert Yeff, Bristol, UK

Luxury versions were made from brass and were usually combined with other instruments such as sundials and lunar phases calculators to form a multifunctional device called a ‘compendium’, similar to a smartphone today with lots of different apps!

Compendium; raised dots for counting the hours (collections reference AST0377) © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

Simpler, cheaper versions were made from boxwood. Some versions also had extra scales added so they could be used with the pointer stars of Ursa Minor (the ‘Little Bear’) instead. This constellation is higher in the sky so it was more useful for navigators at sea when they were sailing towards more southerly latitudes such as the Canary Islands (28 N) where Ursa Major was more difficult to see.

Boxwood nocturnal made for use with ‘Both bears’, maker unknown, English, 1600s (Collections reference AST0128) © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

Find out more

There are several museums across the UK that have nocturnals in their collections. Why not check your local museum too?

Science Museum

London Whipple Museum, Cambridge

History of Science Museum, Oxford

National Museums Scotland

Explore a selection of the nocturnals in our collections

Nocturnal

AST0144

Nocturnal

AST0127

Nocturnal

AST0137

Nocturnal

AST0135

Nocturnal

AST0118

Nocturnal

AST0138

Nocturnal

AST0117

Nocturnal

AST0119

Learn more about the nocturnal or ‘nocturlabe’, used for centuries to tell the time based on the movement of the stars

The Greenwich Time Lady: Ruth Belville

Freya Richards — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 11:00:00 +0000

The Greenwich Time Lady: Ruth Belville Freya Richards Wed, 03/08/2023 - 11:00

If you worked in London between the 1890s and the 1940s, you might have encountered Ruth Belville making her way along the streets of the London Docks, Clerkenwell, the West End and as far afield as South Kensington and Baker Street.

Once a week, every week, Ruth would journey to the Royal Observatory Greenwich with an 18th-century pocket chronometer in her handbag.

She would check the chronometer against the standard clock at the Observatory before travelling across London, making her way to the 30-40 customers who paid for a weekly visit from the 'Greenwich Time Lady'. Upon Ruth's arrival, they could check their clocks against her chronometer.

It sounds old-fashioned – a pocket watch in a handbag – but in fact Ruth's time service was accurate up to a tenth of a second.

Read more about this unique occupation from a time gone by.

Keeping London on time

Ruth inherited the job of bringing the time to London from her father, John Henry Belville, who worked as an assistant at the Royal Observatory Greenwich for 45 years under Astronomer Royals John Pond and George Airy.

In the early 19th century, one of the ways for clockmakers to obtain the correct time involved having to physically go to the Observatory. In 1836 however, John Belville began a service of 'bringing the time to London'.

Using John Arnold’s pocket chronometer No. 485/786, which he nicknamed 'Arnold', Belville checked his chronometer against the Royal Observatory’s time, which was certified correct to within a tenth of a second.

He then sent 'Arnold' by messenger to everyone who subscribed to his service.

After John died in 1856, his widow Maria (pictured) took over the role. Still using Arnold, she personalised the service by going to the shops herself.

Following a long 36 years in the job, Maria retired in 1892 in her 80s, and allowed her 38-year-old daughter Ruth to take over.

Ruth Belville: The Greenwich Time Lady

Arnold and the family trade were passed down to Ruth.

Every Monday, Ruth would travel by public transport to Greenwich, have a cup of tea with the porter and receive a certificate of accuracy for her trusty chronometer.

She would then spend her day travelling to London's clock shops, bringing her customers the correct time, whereupon they would adjust their own clocks.

Ruth continued working for 48 years, enduring the First World War, competition with the Standard Time Company and the laying of telegraph wires all over London.

In 1924 the BBC began broadcasting the pips and the sound of Big Ben, which meant anyone with a radio could get reasonably accurate time. The introduction in 1936 of the speaking clock (also called ‘Tim’), which allowed people to hear the accurate time by dialling the letters TIM (846), was a further blow to Ruth’s trade.

However, Ruth kept doing her rounds, even when wireless communication became more widespread and reliable.

Media attention earned Ruth Belville the nickname 'The Greenwich Time Lady', and she featured in a wide range of publications including Tatler and the Evening News.

The Greenwich Time Lady finally retires

Ruth chose to retire in 1940 at the age of 85, in part due to the danger of walking through London during the Second World War.

Sadly, the family business finished with her, ending over a century of the unique Belville time service,

Ruth died in 1943, three years after retiring, with 'Arnold' the chronometer reportedly by her bedside.

Ruth had been provided with a pension by the Clockmakers' Company, London, in recognition of her long-standing services. Upon her death, Arnold was bequeathed to the Company.

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Discover the story behind the media sensation Ruth Belville, who brought the correct time from the Royal Observatory to London for almost 50 years.

When do the clocks go forward?

rmg_admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 08:46:22 +0000

When do the clocks go forward? rmg_admin Thu, 10/06/2022 - 08:46

The clocks change on the last Sunday of March every year in the UK, moving forward by one hour. This marks the beginning of British Summer Time (BST).

In 2026 the clocks went forward on Sunday 29 March at 1am.

Learn more about why the UK changes the clocks and the history of daylight saving time with the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

Will I lose or gain an hour in bed when the clocks go forward?

Unfortunately, the clocks moving forward means we lose an hour in bed. An easy way to remember which way the clocks change at which time of year is to remember that the clocks 'spring forward' in spring, and 'fall back' in autumn.

Why do the clocks change?

The clocks go forward for the summer because of a campaign at the beginning of the 20th century to change the clocks during the summer months, in a practice known as British Summer Time.

The original campaign argued that by changing the clocks during the summer, people in the Northern Hemisphere could make more use of the earlier daylight hours.

William Willett - an early promoter of British Summer Time and great-great-grandfather of Coldplay singer Chris Martin - published a pamphlet in 1907 titled 'The Waste of Daylight', which suggested changing the clocks in the spring and putting them back in the autumn.

However, Willett's proposal was complicated, involving advancing the clocks by 80 minutes in four separate moves of 20 minutes each.

Willett died in 1915. A year later, Parliament passed the Summer Time Act, which established the practice of putting the clocks forward an hour during the summer.

What are the arguments for and against changing the clocks?

Today people argue that changing the clocks is good for:

reducing energy consumption for environmental reasons
having longer evenings to support leisure and tourism
encouraging people to exercise more outdoors
reducing road accidents.

However, opponents of British Summer Time have presented arguments against daylight saving time, from safety concerns about darker mornings to farmers worried about the effect of changing routines for livestock.

Others argue that changing the clocks is now redundant given that many of us spend most of our time in well-lit homes, shops and offices, where the amount of daylight makes little difference to our lives.

It’s an ongoing debate that strongly depends on people’s geographical location, occupation and lifestyle.

Why do the clocks change at the weekend?

The decision to change the clocks on a Saturday night/Sunday morning was made because it would be the least disruptive option for schools and businesses.

Will my phone automatically update the time?

Most devices with internet connection, such as smartphones, should automatically update themselves. However, watches and clocks in cars and kitchens for example may not change automatically, so make sure you are ready to wind forward.

Do other countries change the clocks?

Around 70 countries have some form of daylight saving time, but it varies from region to region.

Is the US getting rid of daylight saving time?

In the USA the clocks go forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November, but not all states change their clocks.

Arizona does not use DST (apart from the semi-autonomous Navajo Nation), and neither does Hawaii.

The United States could get rid of daylight saving time however. In March 2022, just days after changing the clocks, a bill known as the Sunshine Protection Act was passed in the US Senate. The legislation proposed making daylight saving time permanent, and that from November 2023 there should be no more seasonal clock changes.

Despite being passed by the Senate, the bill still needs to be taken up by the House of Representatives and then signed into law by the US president.

United States clocks change 2026

Clocks go forward on 8 March 2026
Clocks go back on 1 November 2026

Will the EU stop changing the clocks?

In March 2019 the European Parliament backed a proposal to end the practice of changing the clocks in European Union states.

Initially the plan was for EU nations to change their clocks for the last time in 2021, but the legislation has stalled in recent years. For the time being, EU nations continue to implement seasonal time changes.

History of daylight saving

1784 Benjamin Franklin first suggested the idea of daylight saving time in a whimsical article.

1907 An Englishman and keen horse rider, William Willett campaigned to advance clocks in spring and summer and return them in the autumn. His rather complicated plan was to advance clocks by 80 minutes, in four separate moves of 20 minutes each.

1908 The House of Commons rejected a Bill to advance the clocks by one hour during the spring and summer months.

1916 The Summer Time Act was passed, ordaining that for a certain period during the year legal time should be one hour in advance of GMT. Double summer time (GMT + 2 hours) was used during the Second World War.

Why don't the clocks change at the Royal Observatory?

If you visit the Royal Observatory Greenwich during British Summer Time, you may at first assume we've forgotten to change the clocks. But there's a particular reason why Observatory clocks are always set to Greenwich Mean Time.

"We deliberately keep most of our historic clocks on GMT all year round as they were mainly used before the first daylight saving came into effect in 1916," explains curator of the Royal Observatory Louise Devoy. "Visitors arriving at the Observatory in the summer are often confused by the apparent delay shown on the Shepherd Gate Clock but as Britain’s first public clock to show GMT, we’re proud to continue this tradition.

"The most significant change is our Dolphin sundial which needs to be adjusted four times a year: at the solstices (June and December) and when the clocks change (March and October)."

Watch the dolphin sundial change

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What and when is the autumnal equinox?

rmg_admin — Wed, 21 Sep 2022 11:47:00 +0000

What and when is the autumnal equinox? rmg_admin Wed, 09/21/2022 - 11:47

The autumnal equinox occurs in September each year, and in the northern hemisphere the date marks the end of summer and beginning of autumn.

The Earth is tilted on its axis. This means that the Sun illuminates the northern or southern hemisphere more depending on where the Earth is along its orbit.

However, at two points in the year the Sun will illuminate the northern and southern hemispheres equally. These are known as the equinoxes.

When is the autumnal equinox in 2026?

In 2026 the autumnal equinox will occur on 23 September at 12.06am GMT (1.06am BST).

Find out more about equinoxes and solstices

When is autumn?

There are three main different ways of defining autumn: astronomical, meteorological and phenological.

Astronomical

Astronomically, the four seasons centre around the equinoxes and solstices. However, there is disagreement between those who see the equinox or solstice as the start of the season, and those who hold that it represents the middle of the season.

Meteorological

By contrast, meteorologists tend to divide seasons into periods of three whole months based on average monthly temperatures, with summer as the warmest and winter as the coldest. On this basis, for most of the northern hemisphere the autumn months are usually September, October, and November.

Phenological

The third way of defining autumn is to use what are known as phenological indicators. These cover a range of ecological and biological signs, such as the leaves falling off the trees and the migration of birds to warmer climates. These events of course are greatly influenced by weather and climate, and so changing climate could cause autumn to start earlier or later than the standard astronomical or meteorological definitions.

Visit the Royal Observatory to find out more about the history of measuring time and the seasons.

Autumnal equinox facts and customs

The Harvest Moon is the name given to the full moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal equinox. Historically the light of the Harvest Moon was said to enable farmers to work late into the night, helping them to bring in the crops from the fields. The Harvest Moon usually falls in September.

Saturn also has equinoxes, but because it takes almost 30 years to orbit the Sun, they only happen about every 15 years.

Saturn Equinox, NASA

For those located at high northern hemisphere latitudes, the autumnal equinox paves the way for increased chances to see the aurora borealis. According to NASA, the equinoxes are prime time for the Northern Lights, and geomagnetic activities are more likely to take place in the spring and autumn than in the summer or winter.

Glow of Vestrahorn by Ewa Jermakowicz – Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2022 Aurorae shortlist

Mabon is a modern Pagan ritual marking the autumnal equinox. The ritual gives thanks for a plentiful harvest and recognises the need to share the Earth’s fruits in the coming winter months. It is the second of the three Pagan harvest festivals, which include Lammas/Lughnasadh and Samhain.

In Japanese culture, the autumn equinox is celebrated with the tradition of Higan. It is a time to remember deceased relatives, as well as mark the passing of the seasons. Higan officially lasts for seven days, beginning three days prior to the equinox and ending three days after it.

Because of time zone differences, the equinox can be on different days for different locations.

Explaining the seasons

AST0051.1 • Prints & Drawings

This diagram shows the Earth's annual rotation around the Sun, surrounded by the signs of the zodiac and the positions of the equinoxes and solstices. It is one of a series of educational cards first issued in 1846.

More about this item

Photos of the autumnal equinox

"In 2021 I really got into imaging the Moon at a distance with something in the foreground," explains Astronomy Photographer of the Year entrant Hannah Rochford. "In this case, it is people enjoying the Full September Harvest Moon as it rises behind Glastonbury Tor.

"The first time I planned a moonrise (using PhotoPills) and saw the Moon rising was absolutely magical. I cannot explain how it felt. The perspective never fails to excite me. I took this from a few miles away from the Tor to get that ‘gigantic’ Moon look.

"Capturing the Moon is what led me into my deep-sky astrophotography journey, which is my favourite thing. A lot of people think that this is a composite, but it is one image. I took it with my 10-year-old, second-hand Canon camera."

Visit Astronomy Photographer of the Year to see more of the world's greatest space photography.

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Saturday Art Club

Join weekly creative workshops for young people aged 13-16 during term time at the National Maritime Museum

Saturdays from October 2026 - March 2027 | 10am-1pm

Free

National Maritime Museum

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Guided audio-described tour of the Queen's House

Join a tour of the Queen's House for blind and visually impaired visitors

Tuesday 6 October 2026 | 11am-12pm | Please arrive at 10.50am

Free

Queen's House

Talks and tours | BSL tours

BSL Tour: The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre

Join guide John Wilson for a British Sign Language (BSL) tour of our state-of-the-art conservation and storage facility

Thursday 8 October 2026 | 2pm-3.30pm

Free

Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre

Events and festivals | Museum Lates

Musica Antica at the Queen's House

A night of celebration with music by virtuoso female composers from 17th-century Venice and Florence

Thursday 8 October 2026 | VIP experience at 5.45pm | Sessions at 6.15pm and 8pm

Adult: £20-£25, VIP Adult: £45 (plus £3 booking fee) | Adult Member: £18-£22.50; VIP Adult Member: £40

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Young Producers

Find out more about the Young Producers – a paid opportunity for young people aged 16-25

Every other Tuesday from 20 October 2026 to 23 February 2027 & Saturday 13 February 2027 | 5-7pm & Saturday event times to be confirmed

Free

National Maritime Museum

Events and festivals | Museum Lates

In conversation with Richard Wright: celebrating 10 years of the Great Hall ceiling

Hear first-hand about the ideas, craftsmanship, and legacy behind this spectacular ceiling installation

Thursday 22 October 2026 | Doors open at 6.30pm | In conversation at 7pm

Adult £25 | Students £22.50

Queen's House

Events and festivals | Maritime history

Sea Shanty Festival 2026

Visit Cutty Sark for a fantastic day of sea song performances and workshops in celebration of the tea clipper's 157th birthday

Saturday 21 November 2026 | 10am-4.30pm

Free for Cutty Sark ticket holders

Cutty Sark

Events and festivals

LGBTQ+ history month

Join us in Greenwich each February for a spectacular series of events celebrating queer histories, cultures and communities

Throughout February 2027

Free Entry

In Greenwich

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Lunar New Year

We celebrated the Year of the Horse with a whole host of Lunar New Year activities and performances

Saturday 13 February 2027 | 10am-4pm

Free

National Maritime Museum

Events and festivals

STEM careers event 2027

Free careers event for schools

Wednesday 24 February 2027 | 10am-3pm

Free

National Maritime Museum

Talks and tours | BSL tours

BSL Tour: Cutty Sark

Join guide John Wilson for a British Sign Language (BSL) tour of Cutty Sark and discover what life was like aboard the iconic sailing ship

Friday 26 February 2027 | 2-3pm

Free with entry to the ship. Cutty Sark entry: Adult: £22 | Student: £16.50 | Child: £11

Cutty Sark

Lunar new year dates and animals of the zodiac

rmg_admin — Mon, 10 Jan 2022 15:03:08 +0000

Lunar new year dates and animals of the zodiac rmg_admin Mon, 01/10/2022 - 15:03

Lunar New Year is spectacular, loud and, for many cultures across Asia, the most important festival of the year.

The festival begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the calendar, and ends with the 'Lantern Festival' on the 15th day.

When is Lunar New Year?

The date of Lunar New Year differs every year. In 2027, it occurs on Saturday 6 February.

In many cultures, each year is also associated with an animal from the zodiac. Often the animals are the same across different Asian countries, including China, South Korea, North Korea, Singapore and Cambodia. See the table below to see which animals are associated with which years.

Year	Lunar New Year date	Animal
2026	17 February	Year of the Horse
2027	6 February	Year of the Goat
2028	26 January	Year of the Monkey
2029	13 February	Year of the Rooster
2030	2 February	Year of the Dog

However, there are also some important differences in some countries:

Japan: Instead of the pig the Japanese have a boar in their zodiac.
Vietnam: The Vietnamese zodiac has the buffalo instead of the ox and the cat instead of the rabbit. It is believed that the Chinese word for "rabbit" — "卯兔" (mǎo tù) — sounded like "meo" in Vietnamese, which means "cat".
Thailand: Instead of the dragon, Thai people have Naga, a mythical, snake-like monster, which is worshipped to bring fertility and wealth.
Myanmar: Instead of an annual zodiac, Myanmar has animals associated with days of the week. There are eight animals (as Wednesday is split into morning and afternoon). These are: Garuda (mythical bird), Tiger, Lion, Elephant (with tusks), Elephant (without tusks), Rat, Guinea Pig, and Dragon.

How does the Chinese calendar work?

The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, which is based both on the Moon's phases and the Earth's orbit around the Sun. The traditional Chinese calendar is used for religious purposes, festivals and for agriculture.

The Gregorian calendar is also used in the People's Republic of China for administrative and commercial purposes.

The Chinese zodiac and animal years

Unlike most other calendars, the Chinese calendar does not count years in an infinite sequence.

Instead years have names that are repeated every 60 years, corresponding to five repeats of the Chinese zodiac cycle of 12 animals.

The sequence of animals in the Chinese zodiac is:

rat
ox
tiger
hare or rabbit
dragon
snake
horse
sheep
monkey
rooster
dog
pig.

This system for naming years has been in use for about the last 2000 years, but is traditionally extrapolated back to 2637 BCE when the calendar was supposed to have been invented.

The current 60-year cycle started on 2 February 1984. However, a counting system is also now in use, which has year one as the first year of the Yellow Emperor in 2698 BCE.

Leap years in the Chinese calendar

The traditional Chinese calendar resembles the Hebrew calendar in having ordinary years with 12 months and 353, 354, or 355 days, and leap years with 13 months and 383, 384, or 385 days.

Leap years have 13 months. To determine if a year is a leap year, the number of new Moons between the 11th month in one year and the 11th month in the following year are calculated. If there are 13 new Moons from the start of the 11th month in the first year to the start of the 11th month in the second year, a leap month must be inserted.

Days are measured from midnight to midnight. The first day of the month is the date of the new Moon.

The tropical year is divided into 24 solar terms, each of which spans 15º of solar longitude. These terms are given names that refer to the seasons or weather.

How is Lunar New Year celebrated?

Celebrations vary across different cultures and countries, but typically on the first day of Lunar New Year families may visit the senior members of their extended family.

Lion dance troupes, a dramatic part of the Lunar New Year festivities, help to usher in the New Year and expel evil spirits.

Fireworks and firecrackers are very popular at this time, as is gift giving. In Hong Kong for example, married family members give red packets containing cash to children and teenagers in the family.

East and Southeast Asian collections and connections

Explore the history of East and Southeast Asia with objects from the National Maritime Museum's collection

Explore the collections

Main image: PhotographyCourse on Unsplash

When does spring start?

rmg_admin — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 09:17:01 +0000

When does spring start? rmg_admin Thu, 03/25/2021 - 09:17

When is the first day of spring in the UK? There's no set answer: it all depends on which definition of the seasons you follow.

For example, the first day of spring in the UK occurs astronomically on the spring (vernal) equinox, when Earth’s axis is neither tilted towards or away from the Sun. In 2026 the spring equinox falls on 20 March.

Meanwhile, meteorologists divide seasons into three-month periods based on average monthly temperatures. Spring spans March, April and May, so according to this definition spring begins on 1 March.

Some look to nature for the answer. The phenological definition of the start of spring is based on the behaviour of plants and animals in response to the weather and climate, such as when the first daffodils flower or animals come out of winter hibernation.

Learn more about the different ways of determining when spring starts below.

What are the seasons?

The seasons are divisions of the year which relate to the annual changes in the weather. There are four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.

The seasons relate to weather patterns in parts of the world such as Europe and North America where the beginning of growth in plants and the reawakening of nature (spring) can be separated from the hot season when crops ripen (summer) or when trees lose their leaves (autumn) and a final cold period (winter).

Astronomical spring: the spring equinox

Astronomical definitions of the seasons are based on the equinoxes and solstices.

An equinox is either of the two occasions in the year when the centre of the Sun is directly above the equator, and day and night are approximately equal in length. Equinoxes are midway between the solstices, the longest and shortest days.

The word equinox is derived from the Latin 'equi', meaning equal, and 'nox', meaning night.

Therefore for us in Europe:

Spring is deemed to start at the vernal/spring equinox (near 20 March)
Summer at the summer solstice (near 21 June)
Autumn at the autumnal equinox (near 23 September)
Winter at the winter solstice (near 22 December).

In the Southern Hemisphere, the cycle is displaced by half a year.

Learn more about equinoxes and solstices

The spring months: meteorological spring

For most of the Northern Hemisphere, seasons are broken down into calendar months. The spring months are usually March, April and May, and so by this definition spring starts on 1 March and ends on 31 May.

This is because meteorologists tend to divide seasons into periods of three whole months based on average monthly temperatures.

Spring crocuses in front of the Queen's House in Greenwich, London

The phenological definition: behaviour of plants and animals

Some follow the ‘phenological’ definition of the start of spring. Phenology is the study of plant and animal life cycles and their relationship to climate and weather.

This definition says that spring starts, for example, when the first daffodil flowers or the first birds make their nests.

However, the dates of these events are not only extremely difficult to determine but also vary quite dramatically throughout the United Kingdom, let alone the rest of the world.

Seasons in the UK and elsewhere

In temperate latitudes such as the UK, the cycle of four seasons per year is a good representation of the weather pattern, but in other parts of the world this is not the case.

For example, in the polar regions there are effectively only two seasons: winter, when the Sun never rises, and summer, when it never sets.

In the tropics, there can be two wet and two dry seasons, both hot, each year.

In parts of East Asia the weather is dominated by the monsoons and there are three seasons: cool-dry, hot-dry and hot-wet.

We experience seasons because the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun is inclined to the plane of the Equator.

This means that the direction of the Sun's rays relative to the ground and the number of daylight hours change during the year, meaning the amount of solar energy received at different latitudes changes during the year.

Because they are well-defined dates, the equinoxes and solstices are easy to follow, although just as many people prefer the simple use of three calendar months for each season.

Header image: daffodils in front of the Queen's House in Greenwich.

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