There are now just weeks to go until the clocks “spring forward”, with the sun setting later as we head towards the summer months. And after what seems like a long winter, many people will be looking ahead to the lighter evenings.
In the UK, the clocks go forward one hour at 1am on the last Sunday in March. This means this year’s British Summer Time (BST) will begin on Sunday, March 30. For anyone who is wondering the clocks go “back” on the last Sunday in October.
According to forecasts, parts of the UK will see a post-8pm sunset immediately following the clocks moving forward. This is the case for County Fermanagh, one of the most western parts of Northern Ireland.
Those in London can expect to wait a further 17 days – until April 17 – for the sun to set after 8pm, while it’ll be around April 5 for Edinburgh. Cardiff, forecasts add, is expected to see a post 8pm sunset for the first time in months on April 9, while for Birmingham it’ll be April 11, or thereabouts.
Why do the clocks go forward in the UK?
BST starts when the clocks go forward in spring, and this has been the case since it was introduced back in 1916. Its introduction followed an initial idea mentioned by American inventor and scientist Benjamin Franklin way back in 1784, before Brit William Willett published a pamphlet called “The Waste of Daylight” in 1907.
In 1916, a year after Willett’s death, Germany became the first country to adopt daylight saving time. The UK did the same a few weeks later, along with many other nations involved in the First World War (1914-1918), according to the Royal Museums Greenwich.