Clocks in the UK will go forward by one hour on Sunday, meaning longer and lighter evenings from next week. The seasonal shift, always on the last Sunday in March, marks the transition from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) to British Summer Time (BST). As well as signalling the transition from shorter, wintry days to longer summer ones, the change will initially mean darker mornings for early birds and lighter evenings for night owls.
BST was introduced over 100 years ago and has been the subject of contentious debate ever since, with naysayers criticising the loss of an hour of sleep – while those in favour of the change say it enables people to get the most out of summer. A YouGov poll published in October showed that if the current system was scrapped, 59% of Brits would call for the country to stay permanently on BST. But what was the reason for the change back in 1916, and when exactly will it happen this year?
The clocks will jump an hour forwards at 1am on Sunday, March 30, marking the beginning of British Summer Time. The initial loss of an hour of sleep will translate to longer gaps between sunrise and sunset times.
The arrival of longer, lighter evenings will also culminate in the summer solstice on June 21, when parts of the UK is expected to record around 19 hours of daylight – marking the official start of astronomical summer.
BST lasts until the final Sunday in October, when the clocks go back an hour, returning to Greenwich Mean Time, the default time standard that has been used in Britain since 1880.
A pamphlet entitled The Waste of Daylight first made the case for BST in the early 20th century, proposing that clocks go forward by 80 minutes in four steps in April and back the same way in September to make the most of summer days.
A common misconception is that the change was brought about to benefit farmers. In fact, farmers have complained that the change disrupts their schedule, unsettling animals used to rigorous routines.
The adoption of the BST model during WW1 was instead based on the principle that people are more productive during longer hours of daylight and as a canny way to save on energy costs, including for electricity, coal and heating.
The Waste of Daylight was written by William Willett in 1907 – a British inventor and the great-great-grandfather of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.
Willett died in 1915, a year before Germany adopted the modern model during WW1 – with the UK following in its footsteps just a few weeks later.
The time jump is now observed around most of Europe and the US, although the rest of the world calls it Daylight Savings Time (DST). The dates of the clock change also vary across different countries, with America losing an hour on March 9 and gaining it back on November 3 – a week after the UK.
