Summer officially ends on 21st September, at the autumnal equinox. However, here in the UK, summer rarely lasts that far into September.

Indeed, in the north east of England, today could well be the last day of summer as the sunny weather we have been enjoying this week gives way to autumnal rains.

To celebrate the last few days of summer I’ve been wearing shorts to work. In the hierarchy of formality, short trousers are less formal than long so I’ve tried to dress them up a little by wearing them with a blazer, just to try to avoid giving the impression that I wasn’t taking work too seriously.

It is not clear how successful that attempt was, but at least I tried, unlike MP Ben Bradshaw. My high point of the week was that a couple of days ago I was not the only man in the office sporting a pair of shorts.

The short trouser revolution is likely to be short lived, unfortunately. The high today was 23 degrees Celsius whereas tomorrow is forecast to be no warmer than 15.

Tomorrow I start dressing for autumn. However, given that autumnal colours are increasingly vibrant, perhaps the end of summer is not quite as mournful as I first thought….