When Is the First Day of Spring 2025 and 2026?
In the Northern Hemisphere, spring starts in March; south of the equator, it begins in September. Find out the spring dates for 2025 and 2026.
Spring brings rising temperatures, longer days, and new beginnings.
©iStockphoto.com/baza178
Equal day and night? It can also happen in June!
Spring Equinox 2025 and 2026
Seasons can be defined in several different ways. Theastronomical definition is based on theequinoxes and solstices, and spring begins with thespring equinox orvernal equinox. In theNorthern Hemisphere, it is theequinox in March; south of theequator, it's theSeptember equinox.
Equinoxes and solstices in your city
Spring Equinox, Northern Hemisphere (March)
North America, Europe, most of Asia, Northern Africa
In Tokyo, Japan:2026年3月20日金曜日23時46分 JST(Change location)
This corresponds to 2026年3月20日金曜日14時46分 UTC.
Spring Equinox, Southern Hemisphere (September)
Australia, New Zealand, South America, southern Africa
In Tokyo, Japan:2025年9月23日火曜日3時19分 JST(Change location)
This corresponds to 2025年9月22日月曜日18時19分 UTC.
Alternative Spring Start Dates
Inmeteorology, the spring season begins on a different date. Also, some countries don't have fixed season dates but determine the start and end of spring based onaverage temperatures.
Meteorological and other seasons definitions
Greatest Increase in Day Length
As spring starts, thelength of day increases dramatically in most regions—except for the tropics, where day lengths do not change much during the course of a year.
In fact, theincrease is greatest in the days surrounding the spring equinox. After that, days still get longer, but at an ever-decreasing rate. On the longest day of the year, thesummer solstice, the day-to-day difference reaches zero.
At the same time, locations farther from the equator experience larger day-to-day differences. InToronto, the day of the spring equinox is 3 minutes longer than the previous day; inMiami, roughly 2000 kilometers or 1200 miles farther south, the difference is only about 1 minute and 31 seconds.
Day-to-day differences in your city
Our Earth is tilted as it orbits the Sun, which is the reason we have seasons on Earth.
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Equal Day and Night?
Astronomical spring begins on the day of the equinox. The name of the event derives from Latin and meansequal night, giving the impression that both day and night are exactly 12 hours long. However, that isnot entirely true. In most regions, daytime at the equinox isa bit longer than 12 hours.
Equilux
The date whenday and night areactually equal is called the equilux. It falls a few daysbefore the spring equinox and some daysafter the fall equinox in both hemispheres.
Other astronomical terms & definitions
Rising Temperatures
Particularly in the temperate zone, which is the region between the tropics and the polar regions, spring is also the time when the cold ofwinter begins to give way towarmer weather, though this varies substantially from one region to another.
Climate and monthly average temperatures in your city
Traditions and Folklore
The start of spring and the spring equinox are celebrated in cultures and religions around the world with variousspring traditions, holidays, and festivals.
Easter, New Year, and the “other shore”: spring festivals of the world
Spring Months
In the Northern Hemisphere, depending on which definition you use, spring can include parts or all of the months of March, April, May, and June. South of the equator, it starts in September and ends in December. Read more about thehistory and meaning of the spring months:
Northern spring months
Southern spring months
September | October | November | December
How Long Is Spring?
The Earth does not move at a constant speed in its elliptical (oval) orbit, so the seasons are not of equal length. On average, spring lasts for92.8 days in the Northern Hemisphere and89.8 days in the Southern Hemisphere.
Average season lengths:
- March equinox toJune solstice: 92.8 days
- June solstice toSeptember equinox: 93.6 days
- September equinox toDecember solstice: 89.8 days
- December solstice toMarch equinox: 89.0 days
- When Does Spring Start?
- When Does Summer Start?
- When Does Fall Start?
- When Does Winter Start?
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Equinox Does Not Have Equal Day & Night Length
Equinoxes don't have exactly 12 hours of day and night all over the world, like many believe. Such days, called equilux, do occur, but depend on your location.