First day of spring in the UAE: Longer days and rising temperatures ahead

March Equinox marks celestial transition as day and night equalise

Warmer temperatures prompt a UAE resident to seek shade under an umbrella. Anna Nielsen for The National

The March Equinox, when the day and night is of equal length as a celestial sign that the seasons are changing, takes place on Wednesday.

Daytime is going to be longer in the UAE and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere now that spring is arriving, with temperatures in the Emirates already surpassing 30°C in the past few days.

Warmer temperatures will come as the Sun climbs higher in the sky each day until summer while the opposite is true in the Southern Hemisphere, where shorter days will bring cold snaps in countries like Argentina, Brazil and Chile.

Aaron Sigut, a professor at the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Western Ontario, told The National the Sun is higher in the sky at noon as we move past the March Equinox.

“On the March Equinox, the apparent path of the Sun in our sky (due to the rotation of the Earth) is along the celestial equator, the projection of the Earth's equator in the sky,” he said.

An illustration depicting the seasonal variations between the northern and southern hemispheres. Source: Nasa

“As a consequence, night and day are of equal length and the Sun rises directly east.

“As we move on from the Spring Equinox, the days become longer, and the Sun is higher in the sky at noon.

“This is the direct cause of the spring and summer seasons.”

During the equinox, the northern and southern hemispheres will get equal amounts of daylight.

The Sun will continue getting higher in the sky during the afternoon in the UAE and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, and would reach a maximum near June 21, when the Summer Solstice takes place.

The next equinox will take place on September 22, when the days start getting shorter in the Northern Hemisphere and longer in the Southern Hemisphere.

This will mark the point when the UAE begins to cool down for winter.