when does summer start?

[volks76]

I thought Summer started on May 1st, but someone told me it's to do with the equinox, any suggestions please?

[Loosehead]

We tend to say the the soltices start the summer and winter and the equinoxes stars the spring and Autumn. Although I have always found that strange, surely for example mid summers day as the solstice should be in the middle of summer so in theory summer should start and end roughly 6 weeks either side of the soltice. The other seasons similarly.

[Quizmonster]

Summer 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 beginning of 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 (TOED) - the �bible' of words and their meanings - 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 official definition or the one that common language and experience tells you is so.
(Bear in mind that, if June 22nd is Day 1 of summer and June 24th is Midsummer's Day, then June 27th must be the first day of Autumn!!)

[CheekyChops]

It starts whenever it gets hot enough to start stripping off and sitting in the beer garden of your local pub.