Official Explaination Of Why We Put The Clocks Back

[renegadefm]

Here is an official explanation of why we adopted the reason behind putting the clocks back in October :

 

Why do we change the clocks?
 

We change the clocks to get the most out of the daylight.

The first clock change was introduced by the German government in 1916 during the First World War as a means of saving electricity with more daylight hours.

Many European governments followed suit, including Britain, and British Summer Time was born, with the current system in place since 1971.

 

Explanation over, but am I missing something here, we gain more light in the morning, but lose it in the evening, so it doesn't save energy because lights and everything will be turned on sooner at the end of the day compared to the start. 

 

Or am I just missing something here? 

[davebro3]

IMV people simply prefer to start their day in daylight & more people will be at home in the mornings (using electric) than in the early evening. There are issues about road safety etc. but hardly conclusive.

[renegadefm]

davebro3, 

It doesn't mean a thing to me as I work shift work, so I do a fornight of day shifts and a fortnight of night shifts. 

So I'm awake and already at work before it gets light. 

Personally I much prefer having an extra hours daylight in the evening.  Moving the goal posts around simply doesn't solve anything from what I can see. 

 

Surely more of the family is at home for tea time compared to the morning when your either leaving for work or school, so its not exactly saving energy because everyone is home with the lights on sooner in late afternoon. 

It doesn't make sense to me. 

[davebro3]

just keep your clocks to whatever time you prefer then, no one is forcing you

[netherfield]

Originally supposed to be to help farmers.

One theory it was kept,  was children having to walk to school in the dark, more so in Scotland.

And at one period there was an experiment called double summer time, where the clocks moved 2 hours.

[fourteen85]

if I recall correctly there was an experiment around 1965 to leave the clocks unchanged ( i would have been at Junior school) but the mornings  were darker longer and it led to an increase in children being killed going to school. or am i mis remembering?

[redtrev]

Continuous summertime was observed between 1968 and 1971 which meant darker mornings during the winter

[fourteen85]

Redtrev, that was a bit more recent than i recall, i would have been at senior school then 

[redtrev]

It was stopped because the Highlands and islands in Scotland never saw daylight before 10am.

[renegadefm]

fourteen85, 

Personally I think theres danger to children at either ends of the day if its dark. 

What I mean is, is it right children can no longer go out after 5pm because it would be dark by then. 

 

I could be pretty much alone with this, but to me just moving around the goal posts just shifts the danger or inconvenience around either from the start of the day or at the end. 

 

The primary reasons was energy saving, to give more light in the morning. But surely having to turn the lights and heating on earlier in the evening because your less likely to be out in the dark, is far worse.

Infact you probably wouldn't bother putting heating on in the mornings as everyone is busy getting ready to leave the house, so it shouldn't matter if its a bit darker in the mornings. 

[Canary42]

BST gives more light in the evenings.

When we put the clocks back in Autumn, we resume true solar time (i.e. sun highest at noon).

[Jonathan-Joe]

The quote in the OP gives the explanation for introducing BST, that is for putting the clocks forward in spring. ​​​​​​The explanation for putting the clocks back in October is that we are returning to "normal" time.

[Canary42]

At one time solar time was observed regionally in UK, with Bristol for example being minutes different from London.

The coming of the railways put pressure on that with confusing train timetables so GREENWICH MEAN TIME was adopted throughout the UK.

[Khandro]

People all the world over live with different time zones without a problem, there are 3 different times in the USA. Though I think it would be better for the UK to be aligned with the rest of Europe. Portugal has the same time as the UK not its close neighbour Spain, which is a bit crazy.

[Old_Geezer]

It is safer to have light early when half asleep you stunble out to make your way into work or school, than it is when you come back still alert from being hours awake all day.

[Old_Geezer]

My preference would be for the whole nation to change their clocks, say monthly, to follow the time of sunrise as well as it can. Then the start if the day stays normal, we rise according to the position of the sun, and we make our own choices in the evening as to when to turn the light out.

[Prudie]

I never underdtand those who have such a dislike for the clock change. It's only an hour, the difference absorbed within a day or so and as it's done in a vast number of countries across the world one assumes there is a half-good reason for doing it at least.

[10ClarionSt]

During WW2 it was moved by 2 hours and was called Double Summer Time.

https://www.1900s.org.uk/1940s50s-time.htm

[vulcan42]

I see the vast majority of children around where I live go to and from school by private car, taxis and school buses, that the reason for making it safer in the mornings is no longer valid.

[davebro3]

//the vast majority of children around where I live//

"Around where I live" a lot get driven but most children walk to/from school & have to cross roads. With the clock change it is daylight both in the morning & in the afternoon.

[ladybirder]

We do it for the farmers so they can see to their livestock out in the fields in the light is how I remember it.