Winter is upon us
1 December sees the first day of Winter in meteorological terms.
The Met Office defines Winter as the months of December, January and February although, astronomically, Winter starts at the Winter Solstice - which will occur at 1628 UTC on 21 December as the Sun reaches its furthest point south at 23ยบ26.1'. The Sun will return to the northern hemisphere at the Vernal Equinox - 1615 UTC on 20 March 2018.
European and British Summer Time (EST/BST) - used between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October - will return at 0100 UTC on 25 March 2018.
At the moment, the year 2018 will be 'normal' - it is not a leap-year and no leap-second has been declared for 1 January.
Details from the Royal Observatory link below . .