A vast number of people throughout the UKgained an additional hour of sleep as the clocks were turned back at 2am on Sunday.
This time shift signals the conclusion of British Summer Time (BST) and the resumption of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Next year, clocks will be moved forward again on Sunday, March 28, when BSTrecommences as daylight hours begin to increase.
While this yearly autumn tradition is deeply rooted in British culture, the custom of adjusting clocks is relatively recent—less than a century old—and has frequently been challenged, with many advocating for its abolition.
The practice aims to optimise daylight usage by moving an hour of sunlight from the evening to the morning during winter.
When it comes to manually setting your clocks back by an hour, if your devices are linked to the internet through 5G or WiFi, the time will adjust automatically.
The concept of adjusting clocks in Britain was initially promoted by Edwardian activist William Willett, who released a booklet titled The Waste Of Daylight in 1907.
As an avid horse rider and lover of outdoor activities, Willett contended that individuals squandered precious daylight by remaining asleep during bright summer mornings.
He suggested moving the clocks forward in summer months to allow people to make better use of extended evening light after finishing their daily work.
His ideas encountered consistent resistance in Parliament, with legislative attempts being turned down five times between 1908 and 1916.
Nevertheless, the outbreak of the First World War shifted the conversation, especially after Germany implemented daylight saving in April 1916 to save fuel and boost wartime efficiency.
Britain soon adopted the practice, enacting the Summer Time Act in May 1916.
The clocks were first moved forward by one hour on May 21 of that year and then set back on October 1.
Willett passed away in 1915, just before the system was introduced in the UK.
Opponents of the proposed changes claim that adjusting the clocks twice annually interferes with sleep patterns, disturbs biological rhythms, and causes avoidable disruption.
The British Sleep Society has backed the elimination of seasonal clock shifts, expressing worries about impacts on sleep quality and the body’s innate circadian cycles.
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