Spring Equinox Google Doodle: When does the season of rebirth really start?

Google has celebrated the astronomical start of the season - the spring equinox - but in reality spring has been arriving weeks early for years

Google has marked the first day of spring with one of its famous doodles - in this case, a charming little blobman watering a handful of lovely flowers. Google's chap obviously doesn't live in England, which has suffered its wettest winter in 250 years and where the daffodils definitely don't need watering.

But there's also something curiously dated about announcing the start of spring after daffodils, crocuses and other buds of spring have been out for several months in some parts of the country. 20 March is the spring equinox which, in the astronomical system of seasons, is the first day of spring.