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When is British Mid-Summer?
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Hello, Does anyone know when Mid-Summer is officially? Is there a site that 'everyone' goes by? Some people think it is the longest day of the year? Or should I just work it our by finding the start and end of Summer? This is not in relation to any religion. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks M
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The date given by Ethel (which applies throughout the northern hemisphere, not just the UK), is based upon astronomy. As we move through spring, and into summer, the sun gets slightly higher above the southern horizon each day. June 24th is the day on which it reaches its highest point. Thereafter, the suns path is slightly lower each day.
So there are good scientific reasons for quoting 24th June as midsummer's day. However, based upon weather patterns in the UK, it could be argued that the months of June, July and August form our 'summer'. In which case, 'mid-summer' is somewhere around the middle of July.
So you can choose when mid-summer is, depending whether you give greater weight to astronomy or to meteorology.
Chris
So there are good scientific reasons for quoting 24th June as midsummer's day. However, based upon weather patterns in the UK, it could be argued that the months of June, July and August form our 'summer'. In which case, 'mid-summer' is somewhere around the middle of July.
So you can choose when mid-summer is, depending whether you give greater weight to astronomy or to meteorology.
Chris
Summer scientifically/officially begins at the solstice on 21st/22nd June and ends at the autumnal equinox on 21st/22nd September. On that basis, Midsummer would be around the end of the first week in August. However, it is obvious that standard phrases such as "flaming June" and "hotter than a June bride in a feather bed" have nothing whatever to do with springtime phenomena, which that official definition would largely mean.
As the second definition of �summer', The Oxford English Dictionary or TOED...that's my abbreviation of its name!..says:
"in popular use, comprising in the northern hemisphere the period from mid-May to mid-August."
Traditionally, Midsummer's Day was June 24th and - in a temperate climate such as ours - the seasons are all about the same length...ie 13 weeks or so. Accordingly, summer would, in most people's view, begin some 6� weeks before June 24th, which is around May 10th , and end around August 9th. That fits almost perfectly with what TOED says.
So, you can take your pick...the historical definition of June 24th or the scientific definition of around August 5th.
Interestingly, if you try to combine the two ideas...ie that June 22nd is Day 1 of summer and June 24th is Midsummer's Day, then June 27th must be the first day of Autumn! That's pretty well what has happened this year!!
As the second definition of �summer', The Oxford English Dictionary or TOED...that's my abbreviation of its name!..says:
"in popular use, comprising in the northern hemisphere the period from mid-May to mid-August."
Traditionally, Midsummer's Day was June 24th and - in a temperate climate such as ours - the seasons are all about the same length...ie 13 weeks or so. Accordingly, summer would, in most people's view, begin some 6� weeks before June 24th, which is around May 10th , and end around August 9th. That fits almost perfectly with what TOED says.
So, you can take your pick...the historical definition of June 24th or the scientific definition of around August 5th.
Interestingly, if you try to combine the two ideas...ie that June 22nd is Day 1 of summer and June 24th is Midsummer's Day, then June 27th must be the first day of Autumn! That's pretty well what has happened this year!!
guys - you're a bit behind the times. The introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582 means the solstice is round about June 21st - moving a day or two either side over a few years' cycle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_21
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_21
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer
Why anyone should think there is such a thing as an 'official' mid-summer I cannot imagine. Maximum daylight in the northern hemisphere occurs on June 21st (or occasionally one of the days either side of this). However warmth (and for that matter, cold) lags behind daylight (or lack of it) by about a month.
the only 'official' definition I know of is used by the Met Office who regard summer as being the months of June, July and August. This is not far off the extent of what most people consider to be summer - by early June most of the spring flowers are finished and the evenings are long and beginning to be warm enough to be out. By the beginning of September the mornings are becoming a bit chilly, fruit is on the trees and leaves on some trees (particularly chestnuts) are beginning to brown at the edges.
Tomorrow (August 1) is the old Celtic feast of Lugnasadh (which became the Christian feast of Lammas) which in ancient times was the feast of 'first fruits' (self-explanatory) and this marks the move from high summer to late summer.
the only 'official' definition I know of is used by the Met Office who regard summer as being the months of June, July and August. This is not far off the extent of what most people consider to be summer - by early June most of the spring flowers are finished and the evenings are long and beginning to be warm enough to be out. By the beginning of September the mornings are becoming a bit chilly, fruit is on the trees and leaves on some trees (particularly chestnuts) are beginning to brown at the edges.
Tomorrow (August 1) is the old Celtic feast of Lugnasadh (which became the Christian feast of Lammas) which in ancient times was the feast of 'first fruits' (self-explanatory) and this marks the move from high summer to late summer.
Ratter, if you are asking when what I - and only I! - have referred to as the 'scientific/official' Midsummer's Day is, the answer is to be found in two places in my first answer above. In Line 4, I suggested "around the end of the first week in August" and, later, in the sixth/seventh lines from the end, "around August 5th." Both are some 46 days after the Summer Solstice on June 21st and 46 days before the Autumnal Equinox on September 22nd.
June 24th once was �the longest day of the year� (Summer Solstice) but calendars fixed at a year with 365.25 days did not keep up with the actual year which is closer to 365.2422 days. With our current calendar better calibrated to follow these changes (sometimes forgoing leap years) Summer Solstice, �the longest day of the year�, occurs around June 21st depending on which year of the leap year cycle and where on Earth (in which time zone) you live.
In keeping with tradition some still maintain June 24th as �Midsummer�. Astronomical events have little regard for how we design our calendars.
In keeping with tradition some still maintain June 24th as �Midsummer�. Astronomical events have little regard for how we design our calendars.
Shellypoops - St John's Day (24 June) has traditionally been regarded as Midsummer's Day in Eurpoe for centuries, but the problem is the calendar we use
hasn't always been the same - and a year really has an odd quarter day in it anyway, which is why we've to adjust our calendar every 4 years with a leap year, so 24 June can't always be "the same day", if you get what I mean . Whickerman mentions the Gregorian calendar of 1582, but what about 1752, when Parliament decided to adjust the calendar by removing 11 days? There were riots by people who thought they were losing 11 days from their lives. Now, quite where that has left 24 June I don't know! Certainly not at the same time of year it used to be! The Russians, for instance didn't at that time change their calendar. They have done now, to be in line with us, but that's why "The Great October Revolution" of 1917 is (or was) celebrated on 7 November!
hasn't always been the same - and a year really has an odd quarter day in it anyway, which is why we've to adjust our calendar every 4 years with a leap year, so 24 June can't always be "the same day", if you get what I mean . Whickerman mentions the Gregorian calendar of 1582, but what about 1752, when Parliament decided to adjust the calendar by removing 11 days? There were riots by people who thought they were losing 11 days from their lives. Now, quite where that has left 24 June I don't know! Certainly not at the same time of year it used to be! The Russians, for instance didn't at that time change their calendar. They have done now, to be in line with us, but that's why "The Great October Revolution" of 1917 is (or was) celebrated on 7 November!
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