When Do The UK Clocks Go Forward In 2015? Daylight Saving Time Explained

It signals the start of spring so it’s no wonder people are asking when the clocks go forward in 2015.

After all, you can’t beat longer days, a bright summer's evening and leaving work when the sun’s still shining.

Bring it on!

When does British Summertime start?

It happens twice a year but all anyone really cares about is whether they get an extra hour in bed, right?

Sadly, this is the time where we lose an hour in bed – boooo!

Officially, you’ll need to move your clock forward an hour on Sunday, March 29 at 1am, when Greenwich Mean Time ends and British Summer Time starts.

In other words, if you set your alarm for 8am and wonder why you feel so knackered, it’s because the time is really (as in, before the clocks changed) 7am and your body hasn’t adjusted to the new time zone yet.  

So you can cut yourself some slack if you’re yawning all day Sunday and all the way into Monday morning’s very important meeting…

Why do the clocks go forward?

Changing the clocks was first proposed by British Parliament in 1908 as a means to get as much daylight as possible, by essentially ‘moving’ an hour of sunlight from the morning to the evening, as well as to save energy.  

It's thought the first people to use it were the Germans and Austrians during World War One to save money on coal costs, followed swiftly by the allies.

But George Vincent Hudson, an entomologist (insects expert) from New Zealand, also claims to have invented it in 1895.

In 1968, Britain changed its time zone permanently to BST (British Summer Time) as an experiment but it was unpopular up north as it was 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 do it to this day.

What effect does it have on me?

Changing the clocks isn’t universally popular for economic and health reasons.

For starters, it doesn’t really make sense – instead of having darker evenings, we have darker mornings, and vice versa.

And some critics argue that there’d be less road accidents if we had lighter evenings all the time, as well as lower levels of crime and a boost to businesses.

Others say that putting the clocks back could increase in the risk of heart attacks (so at least we don’t have to worry about that this time).

But the key thing to remember about moving the clocks forward is that whether it’s to do with Daylight Saving or not, we’ll soon be getting more sun!

And the sun gives us Vitamin D (also known as the sunshine vitamin) which has a wide range of health benefits.

It can help protect you from cancer, diabetes and multiple sclerosis, as well as promoting healthy bones and reducing the risk of depression.

How can I prepare for the clocks changing?

If you’re a parent, you might want to try getting your little one to sleep slightly later in the run-up to March 29 in order to avoid disruption to their sleeping time.

"Young children need more sleep and don't tolerate sleep deprivation as well as adults," Daniel Lewin, Ph.D., associate director of sleep medicine at Children's National Health System, told Parents.com.

"The loss of just one hour can really affect a child's attention span, appetite, and overall mood."

Because while their bedtime might be 8pm, their bodies will still think it’s 7pm and they might not be tired, which could make putting them to sleep very difficult for you.

Dr Lewin suggests putting your child to bed 15 minutes earlier each day to help them adapt, so if your child goes to bed at 8pm, he would recommend following the below routine:

Day one – 8pm bedtime (Their normal bedtime)
Day two – 7.45pm bedtime
Day three – 7.30pm bedtime
Day four – 7.15pm bedtime
Day five – 7pm bedtime (Their new bedtime)

And it’s the same for adults – if you set your alarm for 10pm, you might not be tired as your body still thinks it’s 9pm, so try going to bed slightly earlier this week.

In terms of actually changing the time, if you’re a smartphone user you don’t really have to worry too much as most devices change the time automatically these days.

On the other hand, if you’re more of the old-school ticking clock type, you might want to make a note in your diary to move the time forward an hour before you go to bed on Saturday night.

And for those keen beans who want to swot up on their forward-planning, the clocks will go back at 2am on Sunday, October 25, when Daylight Saving Time ends.

And if all else fails and you really can’t remember which one’s which, say to yourself, ‘Spring Forward, Fall (the American word for autumn) Back!’ and that should sort it!

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