This year, the spring equinox begins on Thursday March 20, 2025. It's an important date that many French people are eagerly anticipating, as they look forward to the budding trees and increased sunlight. And with good reason: from March 20, we officially enter spring, gaining an average of 4 minutes of sunshine a day until June 21, the summer solstice.
But what exactly is the equinox? It's an astronomical moment when the length of day is equal to the length of night. Every year, there are two equinoxes: one between March 19 and 21, when we leave winter and enter spring in the northern hemisphere, and the second between September 21 and 24, when we leave summer and enter autumn, again in the northern hemisphere.
In concrete terms, the vernal equinox, better known as the spring equinox, coincides with the first day of spring on the Gregorian calendar. This marks the end of winter in the northern hemisphere. Conversely, in the southern hemisphere, it corresponds to the start of autumn.
The spring equinox of 2025 begins this Thursday, March 20, at exactly 10:01 and 25 seconds (French time), according to theInstitut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Éphémérides (IMCCE). At this precise moment, the sun will be vertical at the Earth's equator. It will rise almost exactly in the east and set due west.
Last year, the vernal equinox fell on the same date, March 20, but a few hours earlier, at around 4am. In 2007, on the other hand, the vernal equinox fell on March 21, as it did in 2003. So why do the date and time change? To understand this better, we need to look at our Gregorian calendar. For us, a year lasts 365 days. But in reality, it takes the Earth exactly 365 days, 5 hours and 48 minutes to complete one revolution around the sun.
So, to make up for this, we add an extra day every four years - the famous leap years. This changes the dates and times of the equinoxes. Note that the next spring equinox, scheduled for March 21, is expected in 2102, while the one set for March 19 is predicted for 2044, according to the IMCCE calendar.
Note that the spring equinox is followed a few days later by the time change to summer time.
Time change in 2024: switch to winter time this weekend
The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer: there's no doubt about it, we'll be switching to winter time very soon! On the night of Saturday, October 26 to Sunday, October 27, 2024, we'll gain an hour's sleep and set our clocks back an hour. But hadn't the French and European authorities decided to put an end to this time change? We take a look. [Read more]
Time change in 2024: switch to winter time this weekend
