Summer is now officially over

If you noticed a slight nip in the air yesterday, that was because autumn officially started at 6.55 yesterday morning. Although the Balearics suffered the wettest August on record, temperatures remained high and the beaches were busy on Sunday. Meteorologists forecast over the weekend that over the next few days, temperatures will fall and many parts of Spain, in particular the Balearics, can expect strong winds and storms, some fierce at times. The met office said yesterday that autumn this year will last 89 days, 20 hours and 19 minutes and will feature a total eclipse of the sun on December 4 which will only be visible in central and southern Africa. But on November 20, there will be an eclipse of the moon which will be visible from the Balearics. The eclipse will start at 00.32 and terminate at 05.01 with all the phases expected to be visible from Spain, according to astronomers. The first full moon of the autumn will be on October 21 and the first meteorite shower will reach its peak on October 8. The most popular meteorite shower of the autumn, the Leonidas, will happen around November 17 and at times will be very intense, therefore promising a great spectacle. One important date we must not forget is Sunday, October 27. At 3am, the clocks go back, giving us an extra hour in bed. Many will be hoping for a calm autumn and winter. The first anniversary of last year's storms which caused millions of pounds worth of damage is approaching and since then, the weather has failed to give some parts of Majorca any proper time to recover, especially the north east of the island which has been sporadically hit by freak storms and torrential rain all summer. Insurance companies are still paying out for last November's storms while claims for damage caused over the summer are still waiting to be settled. But because of the extent of the storm damage caused over the past ten months, the local government has agreed to help those worst hit by the summer's freak weather.