The clocks go forward an hour in Spring and back an hour in Autumn for British Summer Time. The easy way to remember it is ‘Spring Forward and Fall Back’.
Clocks go forward… and clocks go back
On the last Sunday in March British Summer Time (BST) begins and on the last Sunday in October it ends.
The official time for the clock change is at an ungodly hour in the night – so we all change our clocks before we go to bed on the Saturday evening. It’s done at this weird time so that it’s the least disruptive time of the day and week.
Computers and smartphones usually adjust themselves. Some digital clocks do too. But don’t forget to change the ones that don’t automatically adjust!
British Summer Time 2026
In 2026 the clocks go forward at 1am on Sunday 29 March. They ‘fall back’ again on Sunday 25 October.
Why do we change the clocks?
British Summer Time began in 1916. The original reason was to save money and fuel on lighting homes when it was light outside but people were still in bed.
Over the years there have been numerous campaigns to do away with British Summer Time here in the UK. With the increasing price of fuel and the cost of living crisis it might not be a bad thing after all!
Some are even now campaigning for our time to be in line with other European countries. If that was ever successful, we’d be two hours in front of GMT in summer and one in winter. That way we’d get longer useful daylight hours in the evening, all year round.
However, others campaign against changing them at all. In Scotland, sunrise can be as late as 10am in winter, once the clocks have gone back.
What do you think?
Not to be confused with…
- Summer Solstice – the longest day
- Winter Solstice – the shortest day
- Spring and Autumn Equinox – day and night of equal length
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