When Is the Spring Equinox?
Find out when the spring (vernal) equinox is this year. Equal day and night, countdown, dates for the next 10 years, and equinox facts.
When the Spring Equinox Falls
The spring equinox (also called the vernal equinox or March equinox) in 2026 is on Friday 20 March. In 2027 it is Saturday 20 March, in 2028 again Monday 20 March. The date barely moves between 19 and 21 March because of the leap-year correction; 20 March is by far the most common date in the modern era. The exact astronomical moment of the 2026 equinox is roughly 14:46 GMT (still UTC because British Summer Time has not yet started), the instant the sun crosses the celestial equator heading north.
This is the astronomical first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. From this date, days are longer than nights until the [Autumn Equinox](/when-is-autumn-equinox) in late September. Day length increases by roughly 4 minutes per day in the UK around the equinox, the fastest rate of any time of year. By 1 May, sunset in London is past 8:30 pm. British Summer Time begins at 1 am on the last Sunday of March (29 March 2026), nine days after the equinox; the clocks go forward, so the evening lightens immediately.
Equinox Celebrations and Cultural Markers
The pagan festival Ostara (the linguistic root of 'Easter') marks the spring equinox; Stonehenge opens for free public access at sunrise on 20 March each year, similar to the autumn equinox event. Persian New Year (Nowruz) is celebrated on the spring equinox by around 300 million people across Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Turkey and the Iranian diaspora; it is a UNESCO-listed cultural heritage celebration. In Mexico, Chichen Itza draws over 50,000 visitors on the equinox to watch the sunlight cast a serpent shadow on the El Castillo pyramid steps.
Practical effect for UK life: this is when daylight saving time arrives, gardens explode into life, and the football season enters its final two months. Allergy sufferers should note tree pollen counts begin climbing rapidly from the equinox onwards. The clocks-forward Saturday night is the worst sleep night of the year for night-shift and early-rising workers, but most people gain back the hour within a week. Easter usually falls within four weeks of the equinox; in 2026 Easter Sunday is 5 April, and you can use [When Is Easter](/when-is-easter) for the live count.
Frequently Asked Questions
What date is the spring equinox 2026?
Friday 20 March 2026. In 2027 it is Saturday 20 March, in 2028 it is Monday 20 March. The date is remarkably stable on 20 March - only very rarely shifting to 19 or 21 March - because the Gregorian calendar's leap-year rules were specifically designed to keep the equinoxes locked to fixed dates.
Is the spring equinox the first day of spring?
It is the astronomical first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. The Met Office uses the meteorological definition: spring runs 1 March to 31 May, simply because that gives full calendar months for statistics. Cultural and gardening definitions vary: most UK gardeners treat early March as spring; the agricultural calendar treats the first lambs (late February) as spring.
When does British Summer Time start after the spring equinox?
BST starts at 1 am on the last Sunday of March every year. In 2026 that is Sunday 29 March 2026 (nine days after the equinox). In 2027 it is Sunday 28 March 2027. The clocks go forward one hour, so 1 am becomes 2 am, losing an hour of sleep. The combined effect of equinox plus clocks-forward is a sudden surge in evening daylight; UK sunset jumps from around 6:15 pm on the day before to roughly 7:35 pm the day after.
What is Nowruz?
Nowruz (literally 'new day' in Persian) is the Iranian and Central Asian New Year, celebrated on the spring equinox by around 300 million people. It is a 13-day festival with traditions including the Haft-sin table (seven symbolic items beginning with the Persian letter sin), spring cleaning, family visits, and ending with Sizdah Bedar - a public-park picnic on the 13th day to ward off bad luck.
Related Tools
When Is the Autumn Equinox?
Find out when the autumn equinox is this year. Equal day and night, countdown, dates for the next 10 years, and harvest festival facts.
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