And that means the clocks go back tonight (Saturday/Sunday October 28/29). British Summer Time comes to an end at 2am tomorrow and the UK reverts to Greenwich Mean Time. Why do we do this? According to wonderlopolis.org, Daylight Saving Time (or “Summer Time’ as it’s known in many parts of the world) was created to make better use of the long sunlight hours of the summer. By ‘springing’ clocks forward an hour in March, we move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. Of course, this reverses when they go back, meaning it gets dark earlier in the afternoon. Should we bother? Every so often the debate as to whether or not we should bother springs up again - a 2015 YouGov poll found that 40 per cent of the British public would support no longer changing the clocks,compared with 34 per cent who supported the status quo. It’s a view that has also reached Parliament and in 2011 Conservative MP Rebecca Harris floated a bill calling for an end to daylight savings. It’s a more controversial issue the further north you go however - an end to daylight savings would mean the sun wouldn’t rise in parts of Scotland until 10am. In response to the 2011 bill, then leader of the Scottish National Party Alex Salmond reacted angrily accusing the campaign of wanting to ‘plunge Scotland into darkness.”
