Seasons in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has a moderate 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, and winter. Each season lasts for about three months and is interesting in some way.

Spring begins on the 21^st of March. Many people consider spring and summer the most beautiful seasons of the year and that is why they usually fall in love in spring. Nature begins to awake from its long winter sleep and new life starts. Nights get shorter and days get longer. There is more sunshine, and it is warmer and warmer. The weather in spring, especially in April, is really unpredictable and changeable.

June 21^st is the date when summer begins. School children love this season the most because they have two months of holidays. Everybody starts to be more interested in the weather because people set off (vyrazit na cestu) on journeys and take holidays. In the summer, rain often comes in the form of a storm. All of a sudden, (náhle) the sky is overcast (zatáhne se), it gets dark and cools down, a breeze changes into a strong wind, and the storm is about to break out. Then there is a crack (úder) of thunder and a flash of lightning and a heavy downpour. It is dangerous to stand under a tree during a storm because the lightning might hit it. Summer is also the time of strawberries, bilberries, raspberries, blackberries and cranberries, and the harvest of corn.

At the beginning of September, when the school year begins, summer in reality is over and on the 23^rd of September, autumn comes. In autumn, the sun sets earlier and rises later and the days get shorter. The nice weather stops although we can still enjoy a few fine days of Indian summer. Many people go picking mushrooms. The leaves of maples, birches, ashes, beeches, and oaks become tinted with yellow, orange, brown, and red and make lovely contrasts with the evergreen conifers (pines, spruces). This colorful period does not last long because soon the trees shed their leaves and by November they are bare. Birds flock together and set out for the journey to the south. In autumn, the weather is unsettled, the sky is often cloudy, and the mornings are dull and it looks like rain. People refer to the weather as awful, wretched, or nasty.

According to the calendar, winter comes on December 21^st, but in fact it often begins earlier. Typical winter weather brings snowfall, icy wind, and hard frosts. We can enjoy skiing in the mountains and the hills which are covered with a thick layer of fluffy snow and we admire (obdivovat) the winter scenery. The roads become icy and slippery and it makes driving hazardous because you can skid easily. Gardeners often become worried about their fruit trees and gamekeepers about the game which may freeze to death and that is why they have to feed the animals.