It’s ​Easter already, where does the time go – oh yes, forwards: Vladimir McTavish

​​Talking about eggs, am I the only person who can’t believe it’s Easter already? As I write this, I’m looking out at a grim, dark late winter morning. And it’s been like that every day this week. Nobody’s going to convince me it’s springtime already.

People across Edinburgh will be putting their clocks forward an hour when they go to bed tonight. Pic Ian Rutherford

However, let’s not forget that the clocks go forward tonight, so it is actually officially spring. The weather may be appalling, but from 1am it will be British Summer Time. What a joy. Winter is over, and Scottish winter is uniquely depressing.

We are all going to have an extra hour of daylight tomorrow evening so that we can be stuck indoors peering out at gale force winds, hail, sleet, snow or whatever else the weather gods have in store for us this weekend.

Personally, I can’t wait until the end of June when daytime stretches from four in the morning until 11 o’clock at night. What’s not to like about a whole 19 hours of looking out of the window staring at horizontal rain? The only thing more depressing than a Scottish winter is a Scottish summer.

Nevertheless, it does seem far too early to be Easter. After all, it’s still March. I’m sure it happened in April last year.

Nobody ever seems to have a clue when Easter is going to take place from one year to the next. Even church-going Christians seem baffled by it. I reckon, were there to be a second coming, even Jesus Christ himself would struggle to explain the logic behind its timing.

So, in case you’re wondering, I’ve looked it up on Wikipedia, It tells me, and I quote, that “the simple standard definition of Easter is that it is the first Sunday after the full Moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. If the full Moon falls on a Sunday then Easter is the next Sunday.”

Thank goodness we’ve managed to clear up that little mystery. That explains why I’ve never considered giving up alcohol for Lent. Who could possibly calculate when it will be 40 days before the first Sunday after the full moon after the spring equinox?

You’d need to be a teetotal astronomer with a calculator to work that one out.

Happy Easter, everyone. And enjoy your long weekend in our lovely springtime weather.