THE clocks are set to change this month as British Summer Time comes to an end, with winter just around the corner.
Every year in the UK, the clocks go back an hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October, before going forward again in March.
When do the clocks go back?
The clocks will go back one day before Halloween this year.
At 2am on the final Sunday of October, which this year falls on Sunday, October 30, 2022 the clocks will once again change - giving us an extra hour of sunlight as we approach the colder, darker months.
From then on, we will officially be back on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) instead of British Summer Time (BST).
One helpful way of remembering which way the clocks will change is - "spring forward, fall back".
Do we lose an hour of sleep?
The good news is the answer is no - we don't lose an hour of sleep when the clocks go back.
Instead, as we transition from British summertime (BTS) to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) we will be setting our clocks back one hour - meaning you’ll be gaining one hour extra of sleep.
Why do the clocks go back?
Originally the clocks were changed to save energy and enourage people to take advantage of the longer hours of daylight.
The idea first originated in Britain and was proposed by builder William Willett, who wanted people to make the most of the summer days by getting out of bed earlier and spending more time outdoors.
In 1907, using his own financial resources, Willett published a pamphlet called The Waste of Daylight, campaigning to advance clocks at the beginning of the spring and summer months and to return to GMT in the autumn.
The outbreak of the First World War made the issue even more important primarily because of the need to save coal.
Then, nine years later, after tireless campaigning, in 1916, this came into effect in UK law and changed how we experience the passing of seasons.
