Did you remember? Britons enjoy an extra hour in bed as clocks go back one hour to GMT
- The nation gets a good morning lie-in as clocks have gone back one hour today
- The UK switches back to Greenwich Mean Time on the last Sunday of October
- By moving our clocks forward in the summer, people have more daylight to work
It’s that wonderful time of the year when Britons get an extra hour in bed as the clocks have gone back an hour today, meaning a lie-in for the UK this morning, October 31.
The clock change, which falls on the last Sunday of October, means that at 2am today the time in the UK went back to 1am as Greenwich Mean Time replaced British Summer Time.
By moving our clocks forward in the summer every year, in a tradition marked with the Summer Time Act 1916, farmers and workers are given another hour of daylight to work.
The idea of moving the clocks forwards in the summer was originally to contribute towards the war effort, since there was more light in the evenings
At 2am today the time in the UK went back to 1am as Greenwich Mean Time replaced British Summer Time
Originally, this was to contribute towards the war effort, since there was more light in the evenings.
It had been discussed for a number of years beforehand by the Government but many people opposed it the first time around.
A man called William Willett wrote a whole pamphlet about it in 1907 called ‘The Waste of Daylight’ about how people squandered valuable hours during the summer.
He was also a keen golfer and would become rather annoyed when it got too dark for him to continue playing in the evening.
By moving our clocks forward in the summer every year, in a tradition marked with the Summer Time Act 1916, farmers and workers are given another hour of daylight to work
It is a common misconception that Benjamin Franklin first had the idea to change the clocks while he was in Paris in 1784
Sadly he died in 1915, a year before his idea was introduced in the UK.
A common misconception is that the idea of Daylight Savings, as it referred to in the United States, was invented by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.
However, he simply said that Parisians should adjust their sleep schedules to be more economical with candles and lamp oil in a satirical essay published in the Journal de Paris according to The Franklin Institute.
While the clocks going back is good news for most of us, it’s less exciting for deer on the road in the autumn and winter months.
There is an increased risk in deer vehicle collisions after the clock change at the end of this month according to research by the DeerAware campaign.
This is because drivers are more likely to be on the road from sunset to midnight as well as the hours shortly before and after sunrise, which is when deer are most active.
The number of collisions also increases from October to December because of poorer driving conditions, fewer hours of daylight and it being the annual breeding season (rut) for certain deer
The number of collisions also increases from October to December because of poorer driving conditions, fewer hours of daylight and it being the annual breeding season (rut) for certain deer.
National Highways Head of Road User Safety Jeremy Phillips said: ‘As the clocks go back this weekend, journeys next week may feel different for many drivers even on familiar routes.’
‘This time of year we see an increase in the number of deer collisions and our advice is to take care while driving and look out for deer.
‘Drivers may easily be caught unaware on roads they travel everyday by the sudden appearance of deer in their path, but there are some simple tips they can use to help reduce the risk.’
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