Tuesday 25 October 2022

Clocks Go Back - When do the clocks change and why do we change them?

 In Autumn 2022 the clocks will go back on 30 October at 2am.


What is daylight saving?

The policy was first introduced on 17th May 1916 in an attempt to save fuel, namely candles and coal, during World War One. Daylight Saving Time (DST) became permanent when parliament passed the Summer Time Act, which became known as British Summer Time (BST).

The campaign to use BST was first started in 1907 by a British builder called William Willett from Kent who wanted the country to make the most of the daylight hours in the summer months and save vital fuel. He wrote the pamphlet 'The Waste of Daylight' arguing the case for daylight saving time. Willett at first wanted the clocks to be changed by 20 minutes every Sunday in April and then reversed by 20 minutes on four Sundays in September, however this was revised to the simpler one-hour change that we know today.

Sadly, Willett never lived to see the passing of the Summer Time Act as he died of influenza in 1915.

Daylight Saving Time (DST) has since remained to help people make better use of the daylight hours – however, it could be argued that it is more useful to some people more than others.

In 1941 during the Second World War, an emergency British Double Summer Time (BDST) was used by Britain to help with fuel shortages. This saw clocks put forward two hours ahead of GMT until the end of summer 1945. However, following a harsh winter in 1946, BDST was used again in summer 1947.

Credits - Content www.countryfile.com

Photos -www.goodfreephotos.com