Date & time / TOOL

Spring Countdown: How Many Days Until Spring?

A live countdown to the first day of spring, the March equinox.

The first day of spring 2027 in the northern hemisphere is Saturday, 20 March, when the equinox arrives at 20:25 UTC. The live countdown below shows exactly how long is left in your own time zone, with weeks and sleeps to go, and the equinox dates up to 2036.

Updated October 31, 2026

INTERACTIVE TOOL

Countdown

First day of spring

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Days

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Hours

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Minutes

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Seconds

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Days left

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Weeks + days

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Sleeps

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Hours left

Counted to midnight at the start of First day of spring, using the clock and time zone of your device.

QUICK ANSWER

Astronomical spring in the northern hemisphere begins at the March equinox. In 2027 it is on Saturday, 20 March, at 20:25 UTC (4:25 p.m. EDT, 1:25 p.m. PDT). In 2028 it comes on 19 March in US time zones. The countdown above runs to that exact moment in your time zone; meteorological spring starts on 1 March.

THE METHOD

How it works

Days left = the date of the holiday minus today’s date. The live counter subtracts the current time from midnight at the start of the holiday in your time zone, then splits the difference into days, hours, minutes and seconds. Christmas is 25 December, Halloween is 31 October and US Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November.

PUT IT TO USE

Example calculation

On 28 October 2026, Halloween (31 October) is 3 days away, Thanksgiving (26 November) 29 days and Christmas Day (25 December) 58 days: 3 days left in October, 30 in November and 25 in December. 58 days is 8 weeks and 2 days.

Equinox: day and night almost equal

At the equinox the Sun is directly over the equator, and day and night are close to 12 hours each everywhere. After the March equinox, days in the northern hemisphere are longer than nights until the September equinox.

Spring starts on 19 or 20 March

In the mainland US the March equinox falls on 19 March in 2028, 2032 and 2036, and on 20 March in the other years from 2027 to 2036. In the UK and Europe it falls on 20 March in all of those years, while in Japan it is 21 March in 2027, 2031 and 2035.

Spring forward a week or more earlier

US clocks go forward one hour on the second Sunday of March, before spring begins: on 14 March 2027. The UK and EU change on 28 March 2027, a week after the equinox. See when the clocks change, and for the start of summer, the summer countdown.

In short

How to use the Spring Countdown

Open the page: the countdown starts at once, in your time zone.
Read the days, hours, minutes and seconds left until the equinox.
Check the weeks and sleeps left in the second row.
Look up the equinox date for a later year in the table.

Quick reference

First day of spring: dates for the next 10 years

Year	Date	Day of the week
2027	March 20, 2027	Saturday
2028	March 19, 2028	Sunday
2029	March 20, 2029	Tuesday
2030	March 20, 2030	Wednesday
2031	March 20, 2031	Thursday
2032	March 19, 2032	Friday
2033	March 20, 2033	Sunday
2034	March 20, 2034	Monday
2035	March 20, 2035	Tuesday
2036	March 19, 2036	Wednesday

Screenshot of the Spring Countdown on this site with a worked example filled in — Screenshot: the Spring Countdown with the example values entered.

Accuracy

How we checked this

We compared 6 results from this calculator with values we worked out independently, using exact decimal arithmetic and the published definitions, on October 28, 2026. 6 of 6 matched to the precision shown.

Input	Independent value	This page	Match
First day of spring 2027	March 20, 2027, Saturday	March 20, 2027, Saturday	Yes
First day of spring 2028	March 19, 2028, Sunday	March 19, 2028, Sunday	Yes
First day of spring 2030	March 20, 2030, Wednesday	March 20, 2030, Wednesday	Yes
First day of spring 2032	March 19, 2032, Friday	March 19, 2032, Friday	Yes
First day of spring 2035	March 20, 2035, Tuesday	March 20, 2035, Tuesday	Yes
First day of spring 2036	March 19, 2036, Wednesday	March 19, 2036, Wednesday	Yes

From the source

The times of the equinoxes mark the beginning of spring and fall. The times of the solstices mark the beginning of summer and winter.

Source: U.S. Naval Observatory: Earth’s seasons

Sources

GOOD TO KNOW

Frequently asked questions

When is the first day of spring 2027?

Saturday, 20 March 2027. The equinox is at 20:25 UTC, which is 4:25 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Is spring on 1 March or 20 March?

Meteorological spring starts on 1 March; astronomical spring starts at the March equinox, on 19 or 20 March.

When is the first day of spring 2028?

19 March 2028 in US time zones (22:17 EDT), which is 20 March 2028 at 02:17 UTC.