When Do The Clocks Change

Are you asking yourself the question “when do the clocks change?” Find out all the answers to your queries including why and when the clocks change throughout the year. Understand why in the Summer we have lighter evenings and why in the Winter we have darker evenings or even vice versa with how light/dark our mornings are! We also have the key clock changing dates down below too…

In short, daylight efficiency. The clocks go back twice a year, each year so that we can all make better use of the daylight hours. This means in Summer months we lose and hour of sleep and in the Winter months we gain an hour of sleep as we experience darker mornings.

We use a Meteorological Calendar to work out the dates of when the best time to change the clocks is each year. In the UK, clocks go forward 1 hour at 1am on the last Sunday in March, and back 1 hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October. The period when the clocks are 1 hour ahead is called British Summer Time (BST).

Now, if you’re curious about why we need an extra hour of daylight during certain parts of the year (especially Winter) you’ll be intrigued to learn more about the Winter Solstice…

The Winter Solstice is also called the hibernal solstice. This event occurs when either of Earth’s poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere. This explains why we experience darker days during Winter months and lighter days during Summer months.

Today, approximately 70 countries utilize Daylight Saving Time in at least a portion of the country. Japan, India, and China are the only major industrialized countries that do not take part in some form of daylight saving.

DST stands for Daylight Saving Time which is a system used by most European countries.

Coordinated Universal Time.

Have you ever saw GMT next to the time and wondered what that means?Greenwich Mean Time is the yearly average (or ‘mean’) of the time each day when the Sun crosses the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Essentially, mean time is clock time rather than solar (astronomical) time.

Neighbouring countries like Ireland use their own version of GMT which is called Irish Standard Time (IST, UTC+01:00).

France is another one of neighbouring countries but their time zones are quite different. As France is such a large country they have in fact, 10 different tie zones ranging from UTC-10 to UTC+12. 

You can actually stand on the Prime Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory Museum Greenwich. If this article has sparked an interest in time and space, you should definitely visit the Royal observatory in London and get stuck into a whole host of fantastical activities. Sit under the stars in the planetarium, listen to genius-led talks, or explore the eyes of powerful telescopes like the Great Equatorial Telescope or watch the live stream of the grand launch for the James Webb Space Telescope!

So now you have learnt about how British Time operates and what daylight savings time switches are, you’ll be well equipped each year. How will you spend your extra hours of daylight in the Summer?

If you need a little inspiration for how to spend your daylight hours head over to our hub! We’ve got everything from Best Beaches Near You, Forest Walks Near Me, Hiking Trails Near Me, and more.

In the darker Winter months, you may feel more obliged to do indoor activities where you can cosy up together. Check out Pottery Painting Near Me, Indoor Water Parks UK, or Indoor Skiing Near You!

If you’re a lover of the dark then why not check out all our Christmas Market articles? We have location specific Christmas Markets like Birmingham Christmas Market, Brighton Christmas Market, Manchester Christmas Market, and more!