It's finally the beginning of June, which means the summer season officially begins today.

You may be thinking that summer doesn't start until later in June and you wouldn't be wrong thinking this. There are two separate dates that can be used to define the start of the season.

Astronomically, the start of summer takes places on the summer solstice, which is the longest day of the year. It is defined by the Earth's axis and orbit around the Sun and the exact date varies slightly each year.

This year the summer solstice falls on 21st June and the astronomical summer runs until 23rd September.

For Meteorologists in the Northern Hemisphere, summer begins on 1st June. It is a fixed date because it is statistically easier to process data by taking four equal quarters for each of the four seasons, with summer being June, July and August.

While the days are really getting longer and hotter for us, the opposite is true for those in the southern hemisphere. For them, today marks the start of the Meteorological winter.

Learn more about our seasons in our weather explained video here: