All about the seasons
They come around every year and with them bring a lot of change. We’re talking about the seasons of course.
We all have our favourite and least favourite - and each season tends to last about three months. But what are the differences between the seasons and why do we have them?
Here, BBC Bitesize takes a closer look at the seasons and what they are synonymous with. You can also take our quiz below to see which season best suits you.
What does the word season mean?
The word ‘season’ has several different meanings. As a noun, it can refer to the world of entertainment or a specific period relating to an activity.
Think of a popular TV series, episodes can be grouped together and aired over a certain period, known as a season. Or a time of year when your favourite sport is back in action, like ‘football season.’
As a verb, you can also season food and improve its flavour, adding herbs or spices to well-known dishes. But in this instance, our meaning of season refers to the main divisions of the year.
But how many seasons are there? There are four. You can usually differentiate them by observing the weather, temperature, nature and daylight hours.
What are the seasons?
The four seasons of the year are spring, summer, autumn and winter.
In the UK during spring, the weather is usually quite sunny, warm and wet. Summer is normally hot and sunny. Autumn tends to be cooler and windier, while winter is much colder, wetter and can even be icy or snowy.
But there is more than one way to define the seasons. When it comes to meteorological seasons:
- Spring covers the months of March, April and May
- Summer covers the months of June, July and August
- Autumn covers the months of September, October and November
- Winter covers the months of December, January and February
Each season covers a three-month period. According to the Royal Meteorological Society (RMS), meteorological seasons are divided up “according to weather rhythms and the Gregorian calendar.”
But there are astronomical seasons, which are based on the position of the Earth in relation to the Sun - more on this later. There are phenological seasons. This means the seasons are marked by the reaction of plants and animals to weather and climate.
Which season suits you?
Now you know more about the seasons - why not take our IYKYK quiz to see which best suits you.
Are you more spring, summer, autumn or winter? Find out below!
Why do we have seasons?
Generations have come to know the different seasons and what they entail. But why do we have seasons and why do they change?
Well, this can be explained through physics. When it comes to days, months and years - these periods of time are determined by the movement of Earth around the Sun, and the movement of the Moon around Earth.
As Earth orbits the Sun, it rotates on its axis. Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted - and this is what causes the seasons.
When the axis is tilted towards the Sun, the hemisphere experiences summer. When it’s tilted away, the hemisphere experiences winter. But around the world, depending on which half of the planet they live in, this means people can experience opposite seasons.
For instance, the UK is in the northern hemisphere, so experiences summer when the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun. But Australia is in the southern hemisphere, so at this time would experience winter.
Dr Sylvia Knight, head of education at the Royal Meteorological Society, previously told BBC Bitesize that to get seasons, “a planet needs to have a tilted axis.”
All the planets in our solar system have a tilted axis, meaning they all have seasons. However, the seasons vary greatly and can look quite different to the ones we experience on Earth.
What are the seasons synonymous with?
The four seasons are often defined by changes in our surroundings. In particular, the cycles in nature, or even by how they change our daily routines. According to science, all our seasons are changing and experiencing shifts.
When we think of spring, summer, autumn and winter - changes in daylight hours, the colour of leaves, the temperature and more come to mind. Some studies have also suggested that different times of year can impact us in many ways.
But the seasons are also synonymous with everything from annual holidays to sport, literature, food, popular culture and more.
Springtime is the time Easter is celebrated, with the school holidays taking place in the summer. Halloween and Bonfire Night are in the autumn and Christmas in the winter. There’s not just the Olympics in the summer; there’s also the Winter Olympics, as well as other sporting events throughout the year.
When it comes to literature, several books are associated with the seasons. This may be because of the time of year they are set or due to elements of the plot.
For instance, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett may remind readers of spring, as characters explore a walled garden and renewal is a theme in the book. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is primarily set in the summer, with events and wild parties taking place during the season.
Halloween takes place in the autumn, so book lovers may turn to classics like William Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. And, of course, books like C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol are heavily associated with the winter.
Even what we eat and drink can remind us of the seasons. More recently, it’s become a trend to enjoy a pumpkin spiced latte when autumn time comes around or even try a Magnum croissant in the summer.
In popular culture, springtime may remind fans of The Devil Wears Prada of an iconic Miranda Priestly quote: “Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking.” Music fans will also remember Brat Summer in 2024, a trend inspired by pop star Charli XCX’s sixth studio album, Brat.
In the autumn, many TV fans like to cosy up and watch Gilmore Girls because of its cosy New England setting. And not to forget character Richard Gilmore’s famous quote “I am an autumn” which has become a massive seasonal trend on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.
If you celebrate Christmas, you’ll likely have heard Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit ‘All I Want for Christmas is You.’ Widely referred to as “the Queen of Christmas,” a viral internet trend every year sees users joke that the singer is “defrosting” as Halloween comes to an end, signalling Christmas is almost here. Mariah Carey has jumped on the trend in the past, leaning into the joke with her own official videos, declaring ‘It’s Time!”
This article was written in September 2026
