Why do the clocks go forward and back?<\/strong><\/h2>Close up of the meridian line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. The Meridian has been in use as the prime meridian, denoting longitude 0\u00ba, since 1750. Credit: Pam Susemiehl \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>So why do the clocks change, going forward in spring and back in autumn? Why not keep time as it is<\/p>
The world\u2019s time zones are measured from the Greenwich Meridian and time in the UK is based on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which astronomers know as Universal Time (UT).<\/p>
Just as they do in much of the world, clocks go forward one hour in the summer months, putting us in the UK on British Summer Time (BST).<\/p>
![\"William](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/09\/Waste-of-Daylight-19-cover-711x1024.jpg?fit=711%2C1024\")
William Willett’s ‘Waste of Daylight’ pamphlet. Credit: William Willett (1858\u20131915), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>The practice that sees the clocks change began in the early 20th century as a result of a campaign to make the local time better match daylight hours.<\/p>
The idea was that moving the clocks forward an hour would mean darker mornings and lighter evenings during summer, when the days are much longer.<\/p>
One key individual was William Willett, who was a promoter of British Summer Time and who in 1907 published ‘The Waste of Daylight’, a pamphlet arguing for the changes.<\/p><\/div><\/div>
In 1916 the Summer Time Act put clocks in the UK forward for one hour from 21 May until the start of October.<\/p>
These days, clocks go forward 1 hour at 01:00 on the last Sunday in March, then back 1 hour at 02:00 on the last Sunday in October.<\/p>
The end of Daylight Saving?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2><\/div><\/div>Several proposals to look at changing Britain’s clocks have been put to Parliament in past decades.<\/p>
One example is the Daylight Saving Bill, which failed on its third reading in the House of Commons on 20 January 2012 after running out of Parliamentary time.\u00a0<\/p>
Introduced in June 2010, this Bill would have considered a shift forward of another hour in summer (to UT +2) and an hour in winter (to UT +1)<\/p>
This would effectively have put the UK on Central European Time (CET).<\/p>
For amateur astronomers, that would mean having to wait until later each evening for the stars to come out.<\/p>
The days of re-setting alarm clocks and winding wrist watches are largely gone for many of us now, as our phones, tablets and other devices automatically adopt each time change.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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So why do the clocks change, going forward in spring and back in autumn? Why not keep time as it is<\/p>
The world\u2019s time zones are measured from the Greenwich Meridian and time in the UK is based on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which astronomers know as Universal Time (UT).<\/p>
Just as they do in much of the world, clocks go forward one hour in the summer months, putting us in the UK on British Summer Time (BST).<\/p>
The practice that sees the clocks change began in the early 20th century as a result of a campaign to make the local time better match daylight hours.<\/p>
The idea was that moving the clocks forward an hour would mean darker mornings and lighter evenings during summer, when the days are much longer.<\/p>
One key individual was William Willett, who was a promoter of British Summer Time and who in 1907 published ‘The Waste of Daylight’, a pamphlet arguing for the changes.<\/p><\/div><\/div>
In 1916 the Summer Time Act put clocks in the UK forward for one hour from 21 May until the start of October.<\/p>
These days, clocks go forward 1 hour at 01:00 on the last Sunday in March, then back 1 hour at 02:00 on the last Sunday in October.<\/p>