So long, British Summer Time: you gave us unforgettable heat, a drought, and eventually, rain. As we notice the leaves turning orange, the days beginning to get shorter and a chill in the air, we know autumn is imminent. And with it, the biannual time change.
When do the clocks go back in October 2022?
The clocks go back one hour at 2am on October 30, the last Sunday of the month. Spring forward, fall back – remember that?
The period when the clocks are one hour ahead is called British Summer Time (BST). There’s more daylight in the evenings and less in the mornings (sometimes known as Daylight Saving Time). When the clocks go back, the UK is on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Why do the clocks change?
The tradition of changing clocks began in 1916 in an attempt to make better use of daylight hours. Daylight Saving Time (or British Summer Time) meant people could work for longer and could save fuel during the war.
Will I lose or gain an hour of sleep?
With all the different dates and times, it’s easy to get confused about what it actually means for us in practical terms. But as the time change occurs at night (when at 2am, the clocks will go back to 1am), most of us will be sleeping. The October time change means we get back the hour that was borrowed from us in March, meaning we get to snooze for a bit longer.
When will the clocks go forward again?
We do it all over again in spring, when we lose an hour of sleep to usher in British Summer Time with the clocks going forward one hour at 1am on the last Sunday in March.
Do the clocks change anywhere else in the world?
Yes – it’s not just us. More than 70 countries around the globe change their clocks, with most European countries changing their clocks at the end of March and again at the end of October. But most countries around the equator don’t change their clocks, due to little variation in daylight across the year.
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