It’s official – the sun has truly set on another summer here in England.

As I walked from room to room this morning turning all the clocks in my house back an hour to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), I just wanted to hold onto British Summer Time (BST) a little longer. Summertime in England is my favourite time of year, and I’m always a little sad when it comes to an end.

As I recollect my fondest childhood memories, most of them take me back to summer days spent enjoying time outdoors – swimming, playing in the countryside, picking fruit, building sandcastles at the beach, having picnics and eating ice cream.

Not much has changed as I’ve grown older, although I’ve swapped climbing up trees to grown-up forest walks with friends, and I can now devour a 99 ice cream before most of it ends up on the floor.

While I’ve always been a fan of escaping to hot destinations, there’s just something about summertime in Britain that is truly great, not least the ability it has to suddenly make the whole nation seem a lot happier. Only in Britain can we make it headline news that we happen to be “hotter than Spain”!

Aside from the obvious rise in temperature, here are just some of my favourite things about summer in Great Britain…

The colours of the countryside

Spending time at the beach

Having a a BBQ outdoors

Following the tennis at Wimbledon in June

The taste of summer fruits – pick your own and it’s even more fun

Looking forward to seeing you next time, summer!

Is there anything you’d add to my list? What’s your favourite time of year and why?