clocks

[Andreat]

why do we put the clocks back

[eperry]

to conserve energy during the summer, we change the clocks to an hour later so that we don't miss the daylight in the morning (hence, daylight savings time.) we put them back in the winter because there is less daylight, and the sun doesn't rise until later.

[Buenchico]

Further to Eperry's post:

'Proper' time, at any point in the world, is defined by calling the time when the sun is at its highest in the sky 'noon'. When you're at Greenwich (or anywhere else on the Greenwich meridian), the sun is at it's highest at 1200 GMT. (Strictly speaking, places like Bristol should operate using times slightly behind London. In fact, up until the coming of the railways, they always did. However, it makes sense to keep one country using the same time standard, unless it's very big, like the USA or Russia). So, GMT is our 'proper' time.

However, in countries well away from the equator, governments have come to accept that it makes sense to shift an hour of early morning daylight (when most people are still in bed) to the late evening, during the summer months. That's why we put the clocks forward in the summer.

Various countries have experimented with the idea of retaining 'summer time' throughout the year. (i.e. not putting the clocks back). In particular, during my late childhood, the UK experimented with redefining 'BST' from meaning 'British Summer Time' to meaning 'British Standard Time' (i.e. the country's time was one hour ahead of GMT all year long). The experiment came to an end after various concerns were expressed, including the dangers of young children having to travel to school while it was still dark.

See here:
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/astronomy-and-tim e/time-facts/british-summer-time/

Chris

[RTFishall]

There is a non-scientific answer........
To please the Scots!

[KARL]

The short answer above is the divisive way to say that every corner of the UK does not have the same needs. During winter, daylight is in shorter supply in the north than in the south but that is reversed in the summer. Interestingly, countries like Finland and Iceland (no doubt others too) seem to cope very well with having dropped the seasonal time change. In this respect, by comparison, the British (perhaps both north and south) seem less able. I recall the mentioned trial of standard time and my impression was that it was habit more than anything that insisted on retaining the ritual. On the other hand, I wonder if the chosen standard time was not an hour out - GMT might have been a better choice and found majority acceptance. But then the UK would have been two hours behind the near Continent (unless they too ended up changing to a fixed winter time throughout the year).

[RTFishall]

Karl, if "divisive" means that every country has a right to decide which time zone it wants, then I agree with "divisive".

[RTFishall]

It could be that Finland and Iceland seem to cope very well with having dropped the seasonal time change because when your latitude is that far north, it makes very little difference what part of the "day" you allocate for so little daylight time in winter. Its only at latitudes around 35 to 55 degrees (North or South) where what part of the 24 hours you set as the daylight bit becomes important. The same lack of a real need to change also applies around the equatorial regions.