When do the clocks go back?
IT'S that time of year again—British Summer Time is over, and the clocks are going back again, as we get ready for the darker winter months.
Here's everything you need to know about when the clocks go back, and if you're going to lose an hour of sleep.
When do the clocks go back?
Every year in the UK the clocks go forward by one hour at 1am on the last Sunday of March, and back by one hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October.
The clocks went forward on March 26 this year in 2023.
This summer period when the clocks are 1 hour ahead is called British Summer Time (BST), which means there's more daylight in the evenings and less in the mornings.
But when the clocks go back, we're on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in the UK.
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The clocks will go back by one hour on Sunday, October 29, 2023, at 2 am this year.
The clocks will go forward again by an hour, on Sunday, March 31 2024.
Some people find a helpful way of remembering which way the clocks change is this rhyme: "spring forward, fall back", (using the American English word for autumn, "fall").
Smartphones, laptops, and televisions will update the time automatically when the clocks change.
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But remember, any non-digital watches or wall clocks will need to be changed manually, so make sure to check.
Older phones, that aren't modern smartphones, may also need to be manually changed.
If you need to update the time manually, everything you need to know can be found here.
Also, you can find our four top tips to prepare your home as the clocks go back here.
Do we lose an hour of sleep?
One thing we all want to know around the time the clocks are changing is, will we lose an hour of sleep?
The good news is, that as we transition from BST to GMT, we will be
The good news is that the autumn transition from BST back to GMT means we will gain an extra hour of sleep.
As the clocks go back on Sunday night, 2am will be turned back to 1am, this means we have an extra hour in bed in the morning as we get ready for the colder months when the winter sun sets earlier and the days feel shorter.
Why do the clocks go back?
The idea behind moving the clocks forward was to make better use of natural daylight and conserve fuel and energy.
American politician Benjamin Franklin first introduced the idea of moving the clocks forward, apparently as a joke, in 1784 but it wasn't introduced until much later.
In the UK, builder William Willett—who happens to be Coldplay singer Chris Martin's great-great-grandfather—published a pamphlet in 1097 called The Waste of Daylight, campaigning to turn the clocks forward in spring and then to return to GMT in the autumn.
The British Government discussed Willett's idea, but it wasn't made law.
The First World War brought the issue to the fore because of the need to conserve coal.
In 1916—a year after campaigning builder Willet died—the Summer Time Act was passed by Parliament.
Germany was the first country to bring in a summer clock-changing plan in April 1916, and the UK followed in May.
The Summer Time Act of 1916 was passed by Parliament and the first day of British summer was reported as May 21, 1916.
While Daylight Savings Time is observed in most places in Europe and North America, most places in Africa and Asia don't observe the practice.
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Over the years, daylight saving has faced criticism and debate.
Some people think that it disrupts people's sleep patterns and daily routines, while others say it still serves a purpose in terms of energy conservation.