The seasons of the yaer

20. The Seasons of the Year

The Czech Republic has a continental climate. There are some differences between summer and winter but they are not so big. A year is divided into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn (fall) and winter. Each season lasts about three months and is attractive in some way.

Spring begins on the 21st March. Many people consider spring and summer the most beautiful seasons of the year and that is why or that is just because they usually fall in love in spring and take their holiday in summer.

Nature begins to awake from its long winter sleep and new life begins. Nights get shorter and days get longer.

The weather in spring, especially in April is really unpredictable and changeable. The temperatures are often below zero at night although days may be quite warm. Sometimes the sun shines and soon after it is overcast, pours with rain or it may even snow. But when it clears up, the air is fresh and people go for walks and enjoy the good weather.

June 21 is the date when summer begins. Schoolchildren love this season best because they have two months holidays ahead. Everybody starts to be more interested in the weather because people set out on journeys and take holidays. The temperature rises to 25°C or more and we may have fine days in a row.

In summer rain often comes in the form of storm. All of a sudden the sky clouds over, it gets dark and cools down, a breeze changes into a strong wind and the storm is about to break. Then there is a crash of thunder and a flash of lightning and a heavy downpour. People who happen to be outside seek shelter from the rain but still often they get wet to the skin. It is dangerous to stand under a tree during a storm because the lightning might hit it. After the storm dies down a rainbow may appear in the sky and you can see pools of water everywhere.

At the beginning of September when the school year begins, summer in reality is over and on the 23rd September autumn comes. In autumn the sun sets earlier and rises later and days get shorter. The nice weather breaks although we can still enjoy a few fine days of Indian summer. In the gardens it is the time of harvest, we pick apples, pears and plums as well as gather potatoes. We are delighted with the colours of leafy trees in the woods. Many people go mushrooming.

But this colourful period does not last long because soon the trees shed their leaves and by November they will be bare. Birds flock together and set out on the journey to the south. In autumn the weather is unsettled, the sky is often cloudy. It usually does not clear up by day.

The first frosts come and a cold wind blows from the north. No wonder that in such weather one may get cold easily and catch a cold or flu.

According to the calendar, winter comes on December 21, but in fact it often begins earlier. Typical winter weather brings snowfall, icy wind and hard frosts. Children enjoy their winter pleasures, such as throwing snowballs, building snowmen, sliding and skating on lakes that are frozen over. The temperature sometimes drops to as low as some 20°C below zero and then the frost binds the ground. The roads become icy and slippery and it makes driving hazardous because you can skid easily.