Is it autumn?
We were wondering because of .
If you have some evidence that a new season has arrived - or even that it hasn't - let us know here. And if you have a photo to prove it - email pm@bbc.co.uk
1305 UPDATE: Jonnie sends these: "The first picture shows a Horse chestnut tree with browning leaves- this normally occurs towards the end of August. The second picture shows some conkers on the ground. As I took the picture a neighbour opposite remarked on how early conkers were falling. "
And DI Wyman says: "Summer or Autumn…..that is the question. Neither…..we are in the Spring of a New Ice Age here in Norfolk hence the picture of me and close family in the grips of the headless dinosaur!
1530 UPDATE: RJD says: "My apples are not usually like this at the time of the year and the crop is the best ever.
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Ripe blackberries here in Derbyshire and it certainly feels like autumn.
I don't know about autumn, but my first sighting of christmas cards on sale was on Friday 20th July in the National Trust shop at Hidcote - shame on them, I say!
IS it another slow news day
I had to run the gauntlet a few days ago as two squirrels were throwing conkers down onto the path, which was littered with them.
The seasons (Summer, Autumn etc) are not determined by the weather on any particular day. It will be autumn for three months following the autumnal equinox on 23 September. So to answer the blog question: "No, it's summer".
My 2yr old son and I were picking lovely Blackberries two weeks ago in Titchfield, Hampshire. Our neighbour has harvested their apple tree and the pears are also ready to go.
We have a bumper crop of Blueberries in our Garden this year thanks to the rain.
..Depression in China? Is this weather related or is China experiencing the general malaise the rest of us feel in the West?
Brendan Lawrece (5) Does Autumn really go on til 23rd December? And March is a winter month?That seems a bit odd to me, I'm afraid.
Its certainly summer in Cornwall, the scaffolders outside have the tans to prove it
Pleny of ripe blackberries in south Wales too. time to try and make jam, I think.
I am surprised about recommendations for seatbelts in trains. As far as I am aware there is no country in Europe where trains are equiped with seatbelts. There are however dubbledecker trains available which to my knowledge are still not running in the UK. This would reduce the amount of passengers standing as well as reduce the need for longer station platforms.
I was scrumping last week, and they were as sweet as September. If I thought it would make news, I'd have sent the photos to you also. xx
Gillian (4)
re throwing down the gauntlet.....pick on someone your own size.....poor little squirrels.
ttfn........hippocastanaceaelicious.......init?
Response to comment 7: the seasons are determined by where the Earth is in its orbit around the sun, not by the weather which obviously varies depending where you are. The seasonal names are often misused in popular parlance (unfortunately even by ´óÏó´«Ã½ weather forecasters!)
witchi (8)
steady on ol' gal.....put yer tongue in and stop drooling.....
ttfn...........burlybuilderelicious.....init?
Eddie,
The sun slants lower each day.
Here in Kent, I usually gather damsons from our hedge at the end of August to make jam - and damson gin. This year the damsons are already purple and fat, and are nearly ready to pick.
(I can't do photos, I'm afraid.)
DiW (14) - its alright, they've gone for a tea break...I'm surprised that lasted 10 minutes on site!
Brenda Lawerence (5 & 15) - In Astronomical terms yuor defintion of the Seasons may be correct.
However Meteorological seasons are reckoned by temperature. Using this reckoning, the Ancient Roman calendar began the year and the spring season on the first of March, with each season occupying three months. This reckoning is also used in Denmark, the former USSR, and Australia. In the UK and Ireland there are no hard and fast rules about seasons, and informally many people use this reckoning.
So, in meteorology for the Northern hemisphere:
Spring begins on March 1,
Summer on June 1,
Autumn on September 1, and
Winter on December 1.
Apologies Brendan with an "n" on the end!
Eddie - Am I bovvered?
Its summer 'cos David Dimblebey is still on his hols.
Ms Simpson (17)
re no photos...
......never mind the piccies girl, crack open that Gin. witchi needs it 'cos tye builders are on a tea break, Gillian needs some because the squirrels are bullying her......and will also partake to keep you all company.
ttfn..........sloelicious......init?
I live a couple of hours south of Beijing and funnily enough several of my Chinese friends have noted that autumn appears to be arriving early here as evidenced by the unseasonal onset of fairly heavy rain.
Incidentally, a few days back you asked if there was anyone out here who speaks Mandarin. I've been learing for a couple of years and can do a bit if that's any good.
Martin Wood
I doubt if UK tunnels and bridges would allow doubledeck coaches, even if the top deck was open in summer, whenever that is. Midsummer = roughly 18 June, therefore summer begins 6 weeks before that and ends 6 weeks after it...
Oh, dear. I think I can feel a whole PM article coming on about when the seasons begin and end.
Izzy (2) - we went to Hidcote about a week ago, and I didn't notice the Christmas cards.
Who keeps hiding my apples?
Autumn.......you should see the size of my nuts
Only if Previews come out only after the programme.
RJD (25)
.....never mind your Apples.....I would keep a close eye on your nuts if I was you.....
Lovely family pic DIY.
RJD, nice apples. Got any more fruit to show us?
Its thunderstorms here in K.L. :-(
Jonnie
..nice pic...but.....
"As I took the picture a neighbour opposite remarked on how early conkers were falling. "
...they ain't falling, its Gillians squirrels chucking them down at you......
Appy (29)
....yeah babe....you should see his nuts......
Yes, I've been picking blackberries up here on Riddlesdown (Sanderstead in Surrey) for a few days & it looks as if it'll be a bumper crop this year.
So-called winter pansies bought in late March have been prolific throughout spring & summer.
Buddleia shrub cut down to knee height in March is now 3.5m diameter & 3m high with masses of flowers: the best year yet. Many annuals, like gazanias, over-wintered again
Crazy!
Squirrel - Appy said "fruit" not "nuts".
Ap - My plums are well developed.
Squirrel Nutkins (26, 28, 32) You're a little obsessive aren't you? Are you in heat or something?
Finally got around to reading Eddie's biog on the PM page. Almost wet myself. Off to get me a life... :-)
Appy (35)
re nuts...I think he may have noticed that it is going to be a bumper crop this year. We have Hazel planted all round the site where I work and they are absolutely covered in rippening fruit.....it was the same at the Dino Park the large Hazel coppice was groaning with fruit.....sure sign of a bad winter coming...or is that just folklore?
Dunno about seasons nor nuthin, but it certainly smelt like Autumn round yer last night. . . Nice, it was, until I remembered it was still July.
The rowan tree in my garden is in full fruit about a month early, and very beautiful it is too, but I don't own a camera so I can't post a pretty piccy. It's also sprouting new leaf-buds near the top of the tree.
This isn't as strange as its behaviour in the late autumn of 2005, when it had red berries on the lower branches and new white blossom at the top, though, and nobody was going on about what a peculiar year we were having then as far as I recall. Maybe it'll start to blossom again in a month or so, though.
Personally I'll be delighted if it now starts to be autumn instead of high summer: I shall be in London for a fortnight during August, and August in east London is usually very unpleasant: sweaty, airless and shows one exactly why the toffs used to get out of London for the summer.
I had better start the process of making the feral rowan jelly, thanks for reminding me. (Can't call it "wild rowan jelly" like wot they sell in the shops, that tree started out quite tame and cuddly at a mere six feet and then went berserk later in its life.)
Early spring + hot April & no night frosts + warm rain= bumper fruit crop. Regarding conkers, I think it is the virus creeping through horse chestnuts in Europe. Despite the rain, their leaves are turning & dropping. And a plant in trouble will produce fruits as soon as possible to ensure survival, fruit=conkers. No other trees are doing this.
But Atumn is, technically, but a month away...
I've seen on calendars that apparently, Spring starts at the Spring Equinox, Summer starts at the Summer Solstice, Autumn starts at the Autumn Equinox and Winter starts at the Winter Solstice.
Since the Summer Solstice is also known as Midsummer's Day, this harks to the seasonal reckoning based on sun position / day length. Hence midsummer's day is the longest day, the winter solstice is the shortest day, and the midpoints of spring and autumn are at their equinoxes.
However, due to the effects of factors such as the tilt of the earth and the jet stream, the weather around here tends to lag a few weeks behind the seasons.
Personally, I believe Spring runs from January to June, and Autumn runs from July to December :)
The other two seasons are largely fictional concepts nowadays, as you cannot guarantee a continuous spell of hot weather in the middle of the year, or a continuous spell of freezing weather at the opposite end of the year. When was the last time we had a snowfall that lasted more than a couple of days?
RJD (34), Well I suppose I asked for that but really! Naughty Corner at once!
DIY (36), I suspect you're right, but then again...
Jonnie,
I'm sure that last year what your pictures of horse chestnute show was put down to a disease
Early premature fall and rust on the leaves.
Trouble was they had some reporter on the job who got it all at 6 - ers and 7 - ers.
She said that the ones not falling and going rust brown had the disease.
Applying the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trainee Enigma machine to what she said gives us....well, where we came in.
Plus, RJD, those apples look v. small to me and hard as Squirrel Nutkin's nuts. Are you sure they're not a very early variety a month, say, off ready.
Chris (38)
Dash out and buy a single-use camera. Take pictures. When film all used (6 months?) take to processor and ask for pictures on CD (usually £1.99 or £2.99 extra). Then you can email to PM... Autumn in January will look late.
Always more than one way to skin a squirrel.
VH @ 43, it's a thought; I could do that.
Or I could get someone who does own a camera to take pics for me.
Or I could get someone in East London whose street is lined with rowan trees in full berry to take photos of those and send them instead.
Or I could go on doing nothing about this whole photography business, the way I have for the past several decades. :-)
Wot, me, idle? How can you suggest such a thing? oooh, that makes me so cross, I think I'll have to go and have a lie-down to get over it.