Is it summer yet? Here's when summer officially begins in 2025 - both astronomically and meteorologically

It's not quite summer yet! | Canva/Getty Images

Scotland has been basking in sun for the last couple of weeks, with plenty of warm weather still to come.

You could be forgiven for thinking it’s summer - in fact, the weather seems better than many Scottish summers.

In reality, it’s still over a month until spring turns into summer and the (supposedly) warmer months spread out before us.

But when does the sunny season actually start? Here’s what you need to know.

When is astronomical summer?

When it comes to astronomical summer we are talking about the a period defined by the Earth's axis and orbit around the Sun. The seasons occur due to the 23.5 degrees of tilt the Earth's rotational axis has in relation to its orbit around the Sun. Summer starts on the summer solstice, which is also the longest day of the year when the sun is at its highest position in the sky. The date of solstices are not fixed, due to the Earth's elliptical orbit of the Sun.

This year the summer solstice is on Saturday, June 21 - a day later than last year when it was on Thursday, June 20.

Summer ends on the autumnal equinox, as the Sun crosses the celestial equator going south. Again this is not a fixed date and varies from year to year.

In 2025 the autumnal equinox, and the end of summer, is on Monday, September 22. That’s the same date as last year, meaning summer 2025 is a day shorter than it was in 2024.

When is meteorological summer?

More straightforward is meteorological summer which always starts on June 1 and ends on August 31.

The meteorological seasons simply consist of splitting the year into four equal seasons of three months each - making it easy to observing and forecast weather consitions in a consistent way.

Using this system spring is March, April and May; summer is June, July and August; autumn is September, October and November; and winter is December, January and February.