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Winter is quickly approaching, which means it's once again time to turn back the clocks.
While the cold season brings darker mornings and evenings, turning the clocks back allows us to have more sunlight in the morning.
Plus, on the day the clock changes we also get an extra hour in bed, so we don't complain.
Here's everything you need to know about when and why clocks go back:
When will the clocks change in 2024?
The clocks will “turn back” one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday, October 27.
And looking ahead, clocks will “go forward” one hour on March 30, 2025 at 1 a.m.
Every year, the clocks are turned back one hour at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October.
When this happens, the UK will switch from British Summer Time (BST), also known as Daylight Savings Time, to Greenwich Time (GMT).
If you have a smartphone or device, the clock should update automatically early in the morning.
Clocks went forward one hour on Sunday, March 26, marking the start of British Summer Time.
Why do clocks change?
After the summer solstice in June, the days gradually become shorter.
Therefore, by turning clocks back one hour during the fall, people get more sunlight in the morning. Moving the clocks forward in spring brings brighter nights.
Why was daylight saving time introduced?
British summer time was first introduced as part of the Summer Time Act 1916.
William Willett, an Edwardian builder and great-great-grandfather of Coldplay's Chris Martin, had devised a campaign proposing that clocks be moved forward in spring and back in winter so that people could spend more time outdoors during the day and save money. energy, hence the term daylight saving time.
Willett wrote about his proposal in a pamphlet called The waste of daylightwhich was published in 1907.
His ideas were later adopted by the government in 1916 during World War I, a year after Willett's death, because politicians believed it would help reduce demand for coal.
While the Daylight Saving Time Law may have been established as a result of Willett's proposal, he was not the first to propose the idea of preserving daylight by changing the clocks.
In 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote about a similar idea in a satirical letter to the editor of the Paris Diary. In the letter, Franklin suggested that if people got up earlier when it was brighter, it would make economic sense as they would save on candles.
The ancient Romans also followed a similar practice to utilize their time efficiently during the day.
