An unusually warm, dry start to autumn after a cooler period is commonly referred to as an Indian Summer. Some say an Indian Summer can only be declared if there is warm weather after the first frost.
The origins of the phrase are believed to be in North America, and the first recorded use was in 1778. The exact origins are uncertain, but it may have been because the late warm, weather was first noted in regions inhabited by Native Americans, or because the natives first described it to Europeans, or it had been based on the warm and hazy conditions in autumn when Native Americans hunted.
In the UK, the phrase was only ever used to describe conditions in North America until the 1950s. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Lithuania, Hungary, Estonia and in a number of Slavic-language countries—for example, in the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Russia and Slovenia – it is known as "old women's summer".
In Bulgaria, it is known as "gypsy summer" or "poor man's summer". In Gaelic Ireland, the phenomenon is called "fómhar beag na ngéanna" (little autumn of the geese).
There is nothing directly derogatory about the term Indian Summer, but the use of the term Indian to describe Native American people is sometimes considered old-fashioned and is found offensive by some. A number of terms linked to Native Americans have fallen out of use in recent years.
