Everything you need to know about the clocks going back in UK. The clocks go back one hour this Sunday 26 October at 2am, but why do we do it? And why is it so controversial? Alarm clock Why is it that we have to turn the clocks back? Photograph: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images Aisha Gani and Frances Perraudin Friday 24 October 2014 14.13 BST Daylight saving time (DST) is the biannual event when we forget whether to put our clocks one hour back or one hour forward, and whether this means we’ll get some extra sleep or not. In the UK, clocks go back one hour this Sunday – the 26 October – at 2:00am, marking the end of British Summer Time (BST). It means that we end up having a 25-hour day. It also means that in the UK we’ll be back on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and sunrise and sunset will be about one hour earlier this Sunday than the day before – so there will be more light in the morning. If you’re forever confused about which way the clocks move and when, an easy way to remember is the saying: “Spring forward, fall back.” Why do we do it? The modern idea of daylight saving time was first proposed in 1895 by English-born insect specialist and astronomer George Vernon Hudson. Hudson did shift work and during his leisure time he collected insects, so valued the dear moments of his daylight after-hours. He proposed a two-hour daylight saving shift and presented it in a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society. In his abstract, Hudson proposed: “To alter the time of the clock at the equinoxes so as to bring the working-hours of the day within the period of daylight, and by utilising the early morning, so reduce the excessive use of artificial light which at present prevails.” Hope Valley Hope Valley in the Peak District. Would you rather sunny mornings or evenings? Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Yet Hudson’s ideas were not followed through, and it fell to British builder William Willett in 1905 to raise the issue of introducing DST again. Willett’s idea was more complex and he suggested setting the clocks ahead 20 minutes on each of the four Sundays in April, and switching them back by the same amount on each of four Sundays in September – a total of eight DST switches per year. However, Willett’s daylight saving plan caught the attention of Liberal Party MP Robert Pearce who introduced a bill to the House of Commons in February 1908. The first daylight saving bill was drafted in 1909, presented to parliament several times and examined by a select committee. However, the idea was opposed by many, especially farmers, and the bill never made it into a law. It was during the first world war that Germany became the first country to implement DST, on 30 April 1916, in order to save fuel for the war effort. Thereafter, other countries followed suit and the concept was adopted by Britain. DST was first used in the UK on 21 May 1916.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 04:44:29 +0000