THE clocks going forward is a welcome change for many of us as we get to enjoy more sunshine in the evenings — even though it could mean one fewer hour sleeping in bed.
It happens twice a year in the UK, and the tradition of changing the clocks has been an official concept for over a century.
When do the clocks go forward in 2024?
Clocks go forward in the UK on the last Sunday of March.
This means that in 2024 the clocks will change on Sunday, March 31 – which is also Easter Sunday.
At 1 am, the clocks will go forward one hour, marking the start of British Summer Time (BST).
BST means that the sun will rise earlier and there will be daylight for longer, as the country heads towards the summer solstice.
The sun will go down later, setting as late as 9.20pm on the longest day of the year.
The summer solstice has an average 16 hours of daylight, making it the longest day on the calendar.
This will take place on Thursday, June 20, in 2024.
The number of hours of daylight will gradually decrease day by day after the summer solstice and the UK will then return to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
The clocks will go back on Sunday, October 27, 2024, at 2am, as the nation will begin heading towards winter.
Why do the clocks go forward?
The main reason for the clocks changing is to make use of Daylight Saving Time.
This allows the UK to save energy, and make use of the precious extra sunlight.
This is particularly useful to Brits given the high cost of living at the moment, as it saves us all some money on electricity bills.
The environment also benefits as we use less electricity.
Do we get extra sleep when the clocks go forward?
Unfortunately, the down side of clocks going forward is that we lose an hour of sleep when the clock moves forward from 1am to 2am.
Once clocks go back again, however, we’ll gain the hour back.
What would happen if we didn’t put the clocks back?
If the clocks didn’t go back the UK would be out of sync with the other countries that observe daylight saving time (DST).
It would also mean that the British public would have to accustom to the already very dark mornings in the winter.
Around 70 countries observe DST, including North America and every country in Europe.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
The beginning and end of DST were standardised across the European Union on October 22, 1995,
This means all of the clocks change at the same time and time differences between these countries remain the same.
