The clocks are set to change next month as winter approaches and the darker nights creep in.
Every year the UK sees its clocks go back one hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October, giving Brits an extra hour in bed. This year that date is October 30 , one day before Halloween .
The clocks last changed in the spring on March 27, moving forward an hour to mark the start of British Summer Time (BST). When they go back next month, the UK will be on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) - a practice that has been in place since World War I, The Mirror reports .
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The changing clocks allow us to make the most of daylight hours, offering lighter evenings in the summer and brighter mornings in the winter. The move is not unique to the UK, with all European countries except Iceland and Belarus switching their time on the same night as Brits.
Germany became the first country in the world to use Daylight Saving Time in 1916, and the UK followed suit that same year by introducing British Summer Time in a bid to help the war effort and save energy. According to Historic UK, the plan was first thought out by a builder from Kent named William Willett, who campaigned for the clocks to be changed in his pamphlet The Waste of Daylight.
William originally proposed to put the clocks forward by a total of 80 minutes - 20 minutes each Sunday at 2am during April, before being turned back again in the same way in September. Although Brits may now be used to the one-hour change, it has been different in the past - and could be again.
During World War II the clocks were put forward two hours for British Summer Time instead of one, referred to as British Double Summer Time. And an experiment that took place between 1968 and 1971 saw the clocks in Britain permanently kept at one hour ahead, meaning that the country stayed on British Summer Time all year round without being put back to GMT in the autumn.
Supporters of Daylight Saving Time claim that changing the clocks twice a year is important to help reduce road accidents, save energy, and encourage people to get out more. But some groups still argue that it is time for a fresh trial to see whether permanent BST is feasible, with some arguing it could boost the economy.
In 2019 the European Parliament voted to scrap Daylight Saving Time - but these plans have since been delayed in the wake of the pandemic and Brexit. With members admitting that the change is not currently a priority, it looks like the clocks will continue to change in Europe for some time to come.
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