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Jayne Dawson: Spring forward? Get back
I won't lie to you, I'm upset.
It's the weather, isn't it? Or rather the seasons.
March has come in, there are snowdrops, the birds are making a stab at a decent dawn chorus, the skies are carrying a glimmer of early-morning light, the air smells a bit different – and The Met Office is saying it's officially spring.
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But, hang on. That's not really right. Is it?
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Spring doesn't start when the very first whiff of chlorophyll wafts enticingly under our nostrils. Spring isn't some neat and tidy package starting on March 1 and ending on May 31, it's a lot more complicated than that.
Spring is a mysterious thing, like nature itself. It is to do with astrological cycles. And the vernal equinox. And witches. And cauldrons. And eye of newt. Stuff like that.
Okay, maybe not quite that. But it has always started on the night of March 20/21, and finished on June 20/21, for reasons not really understood. And it has always led to comfortingly traditional office discussions that start with someone declaring it to be the first day of spring, and end with someone else saying "no, it's tomorrow".
That's just how it is with us and our seasons. Autumn ends just before Christmas, spring ends the day before Midsummer's Day, it's all slightly out of synch – no-one really thinks of June as part of spring – but it's what we're comfortable with. It's wrong, but it's right, like dunking your biscuit in your tea.
But now The Met Office has decided to change all that. And briskly too. Without proper hesitation and handwringing and reference to ...some sort of proper reason.
"The bulk of people now regard March 1 as the first day of spring" said a spokesman. Briskly.
What next? Are we going to move Christmas because it's a bad time of year, weather-wise, and most people prefer to do their socialising in summer when the nights are not so inhospitable.
Are we going to move Easter? Oh yes, I see your point. Forget that one, but you know what I mean.
Anyway, there is a bit of a row brewing. MPs are giving quotes, accusing the Met Office of being casual with the facts. I'd go further, I would say cavalier. I would even say careless.
It strikes me that The Met Office has confused itself with, say, London Fashion week.
You know, adopted a we-know-best attitude and started pretending we're in the season in front.
Already the new season's clothes hit the shops far too early. Winter coats swamp the rails in August, summer dresses are on display before you've even begun to contemplate taking off your vest. Flip-flops are in every store while you're still rowing about who keeps trying to turn the heating off.
Perhaps the fashion industry and The Met Office are working in tandem. Maybe the idea is to give the weather presenters more of an opportunity to be fashion-forward, to bare their knees and elbows ahead of everyone else.
But it's not very ...weather, is it?
There's something even more upsetting than this seasonal shift though – and that's the fact that I care.
Caring about the weather is something that comes on with ...maturity.
One minute you think about the weather precisely...never. Spring, summer, autumn, winter; sun, snow, rain, fog – they are all the same to you. You have your social schedule, you have your going-out outfit. You need nothing more.
Your skin is waterproof and heat-retaining, you have an impermeable layer consisting of two parts hormones and one part alcohol.
Weather is to you what water is to a duck. You don't laugh in the face of it – but only because you don't even notice it.
But all that is only temporary.
All too soon you are noticing the world around you. You stop thinking about whether he will phone and start thinking about whether you will need just a scarf and gloves or a hat as well for your next outing.
The next thing you know, the phrase "weather permitting" is popping out of your mouth.
So, yes, I'm a bit upset. I'm upset because I don't know whether it's officially spring or not, I'm upset because I feel like I have personally experienced climate change – spring has apparently shifted by three weeks – but I'm even more upset because I care.
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Weather for Leeds
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
