When Do The Clocks Go Back In October 2014? UK Daylight Saving Time Means An Extra Hour In Bed

It's only been a few weeks and if you, like us, are already fed up of getting up in the dark, it's time to rejoice. And even though it signals the onset of winter, at least the clocks going back means we all get an extra hour in bed. Nice work Timelords.

So if you feel like you need a lie in this Sunday (October 26), you go for it, because whatever time you wake up, it will be an hour earlier than you thought it was. Score!

When exactly do the clocks go back in October?

The clocks officially go backwards one hour at 2am on Sunday October 26th. So if you need to get up make sure you change any non-automatic clocks before you nod off and have an alarm fail.

They'll go forward again on March 29th 2015, just in case you've already got your next year diary.

Why do the clocks change?

Changing the clocks with the seasons is designed to give us as much daylight as possible. No one's totally sure who to credit the idea to. It's thought the first people to use it were the Germans and Austrians during WWI to save money on coal costs, followed swiftly by the allies.

But a chap from New Zealand, called George Vincent Hudson, an entomologist (insects expert) is also claimed to have invented it in 1895.

Actually it was a Brit, William Willett, who seems to have put forward the suggestion forward first, in 1907, his idea was that it enabled us all to get up earlier in the winter months and get more done. But the government rejected his proposals (apart from during the aforementioned World War).

In 1968 Britain changed its time zone permanently to BST (British Summer Time) as an experiment but it was unpopular up North as it made it just too dark all the time.

However, changing the time zone twice a year took off in the UK during the 1970s thanks to the energy crisis, and we've continued to this day.

But it's not universally popular - arguments rumble on about whether it's a good thing or not, both economically and for our health.

Should Daylight Saving be scrapped?

Some people argue that changing the clocks makes no sense - instead of waking up in darkness most of us will find ourselves leaving work in it now instead.

Following on from this, many have suggested that there would be fewer road accidents if we had lighter evenings, and parents would welcome the lack of disruption for their children's sleep patterns.

One study in the US even found putting the clocks back could increase in the risk of heart attacks and that the sleep deprivation could weaken the immune system.

This could be a bit of an over-reaction though, it is only one hour, on a weekend, twice a year after all. Let's put this in perspective.

Do you think we should scrap daylight saving time?

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