So we have entered that brightest quarter of the year.

(Click here to read Ben Lowry’s main column calling for new hub airports in London and Northern Ireland)

We are now in spring regardless of whether you consider it to begin on March 1 (meteorological), March 20-21 (astronomical) or even February 1 (as per the ancient Irish – with whom I now agree!).

And what an introduction we have had – NI enjoyed a 10-day sunny spell from Tuesday March 11 until this Thursday, the only mostly grey day being St Patrick’s Day, when there are so many things to do that it doesn’t matter so much if the weather is imperfect.

placeholder image — Christine McMorran from Braniel and her dog Dora enjoy the glorious weather on Wednesday morning in the Stormont estate, on what was another fine day across Northern Ireland. Pic by Ben Lowry

We were the warmest place in the UK a few days and also hit our warmest day of the year, touching 17 Celsius in Derrylin, Fermanagh on Thursday (more like a typical maximum temperature for June). OK, so there are going to be plenty of grey, chilly, windy damp days ahead. It is a certainty of Ulster weather that a good or bad spell will not last – the key example being the way in which the 11-day grey spell, one of the longest ever recorded, that much of NI experienced last month was soon replaced by the recent fine spell.

But I never much mind the bad spring days because I know that the light is expanding and the sun is getting ever stronger and that there will be many moments that remind us of the joy of the varied seasons and also the specific pleasure of the Northern Ireland countryside and its lush vegetation.

• Ben Lowry (@Benlowry2) is News Letter editor