Reasons and history of UK clock time changes
UK clock
UK clock time is divided into two zones. The first zone is GMT. This zone is applicable from the Last Sunday of October every year to the last Sunday of March the coming year. Second Zone is known as the BST zone and govt of the UK applies it from the last Sunday of march every year till the last Sunday of October the same year. Hence we change clocks twice a year in the UK. On the last Sunday of march every year to shift to BST from GMT, we forward our clocks exactly one hour from 1:00 AM to 2:00 AM.
GMT stands for Greenwich Mean Time.
Each day sun crosses the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London. It is a British building made in the location of Prime Meridian. Actually Prime Meridian is an Imaginary line that divides the earth into two equal parts. Now, when Sun is at its highest point while crossing Prime Meridian it is 12:00 noon. This is how the clock time is calculated. And the GMT is the mean average time after considering the Sun’s highest position time each day of the year. Every year in October last Sunday, we change our clocks back to 1:00 AM from 2:00 AM to shift back to GMT.
BST stands for British Summer Time.
BST is simply an addition of an hour in the day. This means, when BST is applied day, starts an hour early. It is observed in the UK from the last Sunday of March till the last Sunday of October. We go forward at 1:00 AM and the clocks shift to 2:00 AM. Hence we lose an hour and our mornings start early. This summertime act was formed in 1916. It was formed to get the best use of daylight hours.
History of BST in UK clock
The roots of the British Summer Time are linked back to 1907. When William Willet published a paper with the title: The Waste of Daylight. In 1916, a year after his death only, Germany applied it and the UK followed after a few weeks.
Daylight Saving Time
Today, around 70 countries in the world are following the norms of daylight saving time to start their summer days early and save on energy bills. Moreover, they get longer evenings for family and themselves. Many debates continue each time the clock changes as people want to shift to BST and continue early in the mornings in winter. But the whole of the UK never agrees as some parts of the country get visibility issues. As many points of concern start to arise like Kids going to school in the dark, Aged getting late to work, compromised social security in the early mornings because of darkness and so on.
What if we continue with GMT in the UK clock whole year
If the UK decides to continue with Greenwich Mean Time. Then in summer, we will be the bed in the bright early mornings and we will miss bright evenings. This means when we get home we use more energy such as bulbs at home. But if we started early in the morning, we get to use the best of daylight as we are home early. Hence BST helps us in saving energy and bills along with longer family evenings.
What if we continue BST in the UK clock for the whole year
If the UK decides to continue BST in winter then many places in the UK will start with darker mornings which will increase the energy loads and bills of the nation. The addition of snowfall may further increase the issues. Elderly and young kids will suffer in cold and dark mornings.
Clock changing in other countries.
The UK is not the only country to follow the clock change for the comfort of the community. There are seventy countries in the world including us that follow this regime twice a year. Apart from Europe, the USA, Canada, Mexico and Australia as well are on the list. In 2019, a bill was on the edge to pass in Europe to stop the tradition of clock changing but Covid intervened. For now, the Whole of Europe as well is going to continue the same tradition for some more years or until the bill gets implemented.
Last but not the least, the rule to change the clock time was purely to get the best use of sunlight in the early mornings. And it flushed more availability of evening time for outdoor activities in life. When it brings home more benefits then we should continue to practice the tradition and inherit it further. And in case the majority in the UK decide they should go for BST over GMT. Because energy will be saved in summer and winters are getting reduced worldwide bringing longer summers.
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