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Winter is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. Astronomically, it begins with the winter solstice (around December 21 in the Northern hemisphere (except in the Irish Calendar where it is counted as the full months of November, December and January), and June 21 in the Southern hemisphere), and ends with the spring equinox (around March 21 in the Northern hemisphere and September 21 in the Southern hemisphere). However, sometimes it is counted instead as the whole months of June, July and August in the Southern hemisphere and December, January and February in the Northern hemisphere.