BBC

Accessibility links

  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
BBC iD
Notifications

BBC navigation

  • Home
  • Home
  • News
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Shop
  • Earth
  • Travel
  • Capital
  • iPlayer
  • Culture
  • Autos
  • Future
  • TV
  • Radio
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • iWonder
  • Bitesize
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Earth
  • Arts
  • Make It Digital
  • Taster
  • Nature
  • Local
  • Menu
Search
Weather

When does winter really begin?

1st December 2016 Last updated at 11:50

As the calendar turns to December, the season turns from autumn to winter, at least in the eyes of the weather community.

Unlike astronomical winter, which begins at the winter solstice (21 or 22 December), which many regard as the "real" changing of the season, meteorological winter begins almost three weeks earlier, on 1 December.

BBC Weather's Matt Taylor explains why the meteorological seasons follow a different pattern to their astronomical cousins.

Check out some of our Weather Watchers' winter photos here.

Weather Videos

  • Watch

    Record rainfall and floods hit Paris

    A storm unleashes the heaviest July rainfall on record in the French capital.

  • Watch
    01:45

    Why are showers so hard to forecast?

    Tomasz Schafernaker takes us through this quick animation explaining why showers are difficult to forecast.

  • Watch
    01:39

    Weather and pollen

    Louise Lear takes a look at how our weather can influence the pollen count.

  • Watch
    01:00

    Wind gusts weather symbol

    An explanation of the wind gusts symbol in our forecasts.

  • Watch

    Can 'heavy' air hit Andy Murray's serve?

    We take a look at how air density affects the speed of sports balls.

  • Watch

    Measuring temperature

    Ever wondered why the temperature reading on your thermometer may be different to those you see or hear on air?

Explore the BBC

  • Home
  • Home
  • News
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Shop
  • Earth
  • Travel
  • Capital
  • iPlayer
  • Culture
  • Autos
  • Future
  • TV
  • Radio
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • iWonder
  • Bitesize
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Earth
  • Arts
  • Make It Digital
  • Taster
  • Nature
  • Local
  • Mobile Site
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Advertise with us
  • Ad choices
Copyright © 2017 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.