The winter is one of the four Saison S of the moderate zones.

Astronomically, this season starts with the Winter solstice (around the December 21st in the northern Hemisphere and of the June 21st in the Southern hemisphere) and finishes with the equinox of Printemps (around the March 21st in the northern hemisphere and September 23rd in the southern hemisphere). It is at the time of the winter solstice that the Nuit is longest of all the Année.

The cultural date of beginning of the winter can vary according to the countries. Thus with the the United Kingdom and in Ireland one considers more the solstice as the middle of the winter which starts in the neighborhoods of on November 1st towards the Samhain. In Australia the winter starts about on June 1st. In the Chinese Astrology and certain Asian countries close to the China, the winter starts towards the November 7th with “the establishment of the winter” (立冬 lìdōng in Hànyǔ pīnyīn , 立冬 rittō in Rōmaji , 입동 (立冬) in Hangûl ).

In Meteorology, the winter extends by convention from December to February in the northern hemisphere and from June to August in the southern hemisphere.

The more one approaches the poles, the more the winter is considered rigorous. That is also true in Montagne when the Altitude increases. In winter, the days are shorter than the nights. The polar winter is characterized, beyond the Polar circle, by one six months night uninterrupted. The cycle of the seasons is due to the slope of the Earth compared to the ecliptic . When a hemisphere is plunged in the winter, it is tilted contrary to the Sun.

The Orbite of the Earth is not perfectly circular; it is elliptic. The Earth reaches its Périhélie when the northern hemisphere is tilted contrary to the Sun. Thus, in the northern Hemisphere, the winter is slightly shorter than the be owing to the fact that the Ground is more close to the Sun, which makes it accelerate on its Orbite in accordance with the second law of Képler. __TOC

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