Autumn is here but there is still some hope of warm weather

Tuesday marks the Autumn Equinox, also known as nature’s first day of the new season. The centre of the sun crosses the Earth’s equator and the length of day for almost all locations on earth is equal in length.

The Equilux marks a specific day where day and night become equal in length – exactly 12 hours. This occurs just after the Equinox and this year, falls this Friday. From that point, nights gradually become longer than days.

After temperatures peaked in excess of 30C a week ago – many areas have been spoilt with warm sunshine and temperatures much higher than average given the time of year. Most of the south-east have had temperatures of 23-26C for more than a week making it feel more like summer than late September.From Tuesday – it’s all change for many of us and by chance, neatly aligning with the Equinox this week. There’s plenty of warm sunshine around – but not for all of us. Further north and west, it’s breezy, cloudy and cooler with some rain sliding in later – the sign of things to come. 

An autumnal scene on Lake Windermere. Credit: PA

On Wednesday temperatures will fall away after the rain – ranging from a maximum of 20C in London and Kent to a very chilly feeling 12C in Scotland with an overnight frost here as temperatures drop below freezing. It’ll turn increasingly windy and wet by the end of the week and together with the lower temperatures, earlier evenings and darker mornings, the last few days will feel like a distant memory. It’s worth bearing in mind that October can sometimes surprise us. We’ve had a recent hat trick of warm Halloweens and temperatures peaked at 30C on October 1, 2011. There’s still time!