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The Spring Equinox begins

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Derek Brockway Derek Brockway | 13:13 UK time, Friday, 19 March 2010

Yesterday, Hawarden in Flintshire was the warmest place in Wales. The temperature reaching a high of 16 Celsius, 61 Fahrenheit.ÌýSix degrees above the March average!

The wettest place yesterday was Capel Curig in Snowdonia with 13.4mm of rain. The most rain we've had so far this month...

I had hoped it would be dry this afternoon for the Gold Cup Race at the Cheltenham Festival but rain seems likely to arrive sooner than expected.

spreading north into southern Britain.

It's tied to an area of low pressure which is heading our way, bringing a spell of wet and breezy weather.

Some heavy rain likely too, 15 to 25mm (up to an inch) on the Brecon Beacons.

Tomorrow is the Spring Equinox and will occur at 5.32pm in the UK butÌýremember - theÌýclocks don't go forwards until next weekend on Sunday,Ìý28 March.

The equinox refers to the moment that the sun crosses directly overhead at the Earth's equator and some people consider this to be the first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere.

The word equinox derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). It means equal day and night. But in reality, the day is slightly longer than the night at an equinox.

This is because the sun is not a single point of light, but appears to be a disc. So when the centre of the sun is still below the horizon, the upper limb is already visible and emits light.

Sunrise over Stonehenge:

sunset_stonehenge.jpg

The atmosphere also refracts light downwards, so even when the upper limb of the sun is still below the horizon, its rays already reach around the horizon to the ground.

This combination makes the day slightly longer than the night.

In Wales, day and night were almost equal on March 18th before the Spring Equinox.

At the North Pole, polar bears will be celebrating the first appearance of the sun in 6 months but at the South Pole the penguins will be preparing for 6 months of darkness! Imagine that?

Here in Wales, I can't promise much (if any) sunshine tomorrow. The skies will be full of cloud with showers and longer spells of rain.

So if you're in Cardiff for the rugby tomorrow, an umbrella will come in handy although some drier spells are likely too and it will feel mild with a high of 13 Celsius.

Sunday looks better. Dry and bright for a time, some hazy sunshine in the morning, but more rain will move in from the west during the afternoon and evening. The wind picking-up as well.

Derek

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