When is the first day of summer 2025? All the summer solstice details for this year
8 May 2025, 16:34
When is the longest day of the summer? And when do the hotter months officially start in the UK? Here's everything you need to know as the weather begins to warm up.
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Summer time in the UK is just around the corner now as we're already witnessing warmer temperatures and dryer conditions as we begin May.
Following on from the mini spring heatwave experienced across the country, many are looking forward to the official start of summer, hopefully bringing with it more sunny and hot days for us all to enjoy after a long and cold winter.
So when exactly is the first day of summer in 2025? And when does the longest day, the summer solstice happen?
- READ MORE: Mini-heatwave set to hit England with highs of 27C as dry May continues
- READ MORE: Drought risk warning issued after England’s driest start to spring since 1956
Here's all the weather and summer details you need as we get ready to enter a new season.
When is the first day of summer 2025 in the UK?
The first day of summer all depends on whether you follow the astronomical or meteorological calendar.
Astronomical
For those who follow the astronomical dates, summer in the UK starts on Saturday 21st June 2025 and ends on Monday 22nd September 2025.
This date is determined by Earth's orbit around the sun and for summer, means it's the point when the sun is highest in the sky in relation to the equator. With this also comes the longest day of the year as we get the most sunlight on that date.
Each year we have two solstices, winter and summer, and two equinoxes, autumn and spring, marking the official start of that season.
Meteorological
This method, is perhaps the easiest of the two and suggests summer in the UK always starts on June 1st and ends on 31st August.
This method sees the normal calendar divided into four periods and assigned the correct seasons. So spring is March, April and May, summer is June, July and August, autumn is September, October, November and winter is December, January and February.
