That clocks should not go back in winter

[nosswith]

This weekend the clocks go back. Something I object to and would like to see end, at least in England.

Three arguments for doing so used to be made

• dark mornings in Scotland- fair point, now there is a Scottish Parliament and they can decide, there are enough places with two time zones.
• Farming- less people affected now with more mechanisation
• Guy Fawkes Night- I cannot see how one day a year starting with the few celebrations a bit later is an issue.

Since mines, shipyards and factories closed, fewer people start work early, whereas longer retail hours mean more working in the evening. If wfh at least some of the week continues post Covid 19, the numbers going out in the dark mornings will be fewer than before.

AIBU?

It was later identified that the reduction in evening casualties was attributable to the introduction of drink-driving legislation in the UK, which happened at the same time, so there was in fact little difference in the figures.

In 1989, researchers re-examined the data, and as they could use data from years after 1971, the effects of the new 70mph speed limit and road-side breath tests could be eliminated. In the winter of 69/70 the data showed 232 fewer deaths and serious injuries and 2,342 fewer overall casualties solely due to retaining BST.

Interestingly, the reduction in casualties was slightly greater in Scotland than in England & Wales.

Interesting the suggestion(s) that we just stop clock changing, but decide whether we have GMT all year around or BST.

Let me guess OP, you live in the south of England. As a PP said, don't you realise there is a large bit of England directly adjacent to Scotland where dark mornings are shit? In December it doesn't get light in West Yorkshire until 8.15/8.30. If the clocks didn't go back to their ORIGINAL time of GMT in October, then it wouldn't be getting light in the mornings in December until gone 9. I would rather have dark.evenings than dark mórnings and it's better for children going to school for it to get light earlier.

So much discussion about something which is actually out of your control

@eaglejulesk

So much discussion about something which is actually out of your control

That's the point of Mumsnet .

@eaglejulesk

So much discussion about something which is actually out of your control

It's out of your control what other people discuss and yet you commented on our discussing it. See how that works?

@nosswith

Interesting the suggestion(s) that we just stop clock changing, but decide whether we have GMT all year around or BST.

Some might feel differently if it's put as 'should we have the same time as Europe or use GMT?'.

GMT all year I say.

"Some might feel differently if it's put as 'should we have the same time as Europe or use GMT?'." @MitziK

The same time as which part of Europe? When/if the EU do eventually finalise the proposal to stop changing the clocks, each European country will be able to decide which is going to be their standard time - their current 'winter time' or 'summer time'. So there's no guarantee that any country in Europe will be on the same time as any other. It still needs to be decided what will happen about Northern Ireland - will it stay in step with Ireland or with the rest of the UK if there is a difference?

This thread inspired me to go hunting about on history of clock changes. Apparently Ireland for a number of years was 25mins or so ahead of GMT. Then they decided to change to GMT because of the issues at the border.

EU refer to our time as Western European time, their is also an Eastern European time.

It is only about 20 years ago that Europe changed their clocks on the same days. I knew i wasn't imagining things about changing clocks on arrival in the Canaries, change them on the Sunday, change them when we got home, and changing again on the Sunday!

Stick with GMT I say, then the daylight is equally split before and after noon - equal shares for the early birds and the night owls.

Some might feel differently if it's put as 'should we have the same time as Europe or use GMT?'.

Better still call GMT UTC and see what happens

www.timeanddate.com/time/gmt-utc-time.html

Makes no difference to me personally but for just this year I can see the advantage of lighter evenings. When getting out and about and seeing family and friends is limited by the covid situation an hours extra daylight after school might be useful.

@wombat1a

Stick with GMT I say, then the daylight is equally split before and after noon - equal shares for the early birds and the night owls.

I didn't realise that was the case. I still think it's better to have daylight until 10pm though rather than having the day starting at 3am!

The clocks go back to the correct time zone. They're adjusted in spring away from GMT for BST

I hate the clocks going forward and it takes weeks for me to adjust. I'm always glad when they go back, as by the time they do I feel like my body needs it. I've been struggling to get up at the usual time this last week or two, despite going to bed at the usual time.

I think I'd rather they didn't go forward (and thus didn't need to go back), though not exactly sure of what the implications of that would be (will rtft soon as I'm sure someone has explained it).

I'm a morning person, so much prefer GMT all year round.

The first time I visited Spain, it was in June when it was light at 4am in the UK. I was shocked by how much later it got light in Spain, until someone explained to me that the nearer you are to the equator, the less seasonal variation there is in daylight hours. Following the EU just isn't appropriate in this instance because most of its member states, with the possible exception of the Irish Republic, aren't as affected by seasonal darkness as we are.

@hopefulhalf

My DC leave for school at 7am. OP try getting up at 5:30 for a month then tell me the clocks don't need to change in October. BTW the European Union have stopped changing their clocks completely as it not good for physical or mental health. If we need to stick to one then I vote GMT.

They haven't stopped yet

www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/European-Parliaments-votes-to-end-daylight-savings-clock-changes-twice-a-year-by-2021

It's going to cause a lot of confusion if the time difference between mainland Europe and the UK is no longer an hour.

I am looking forward to the clock in the car being right next week

France are an hour ahead of us throughout the year and it works for them.

I see no reason why Scotland shouldn’t have a different time zone to England. Australia has different time zones.

Surely it's better to have lighter mornings? Besides, it's a moot point. In a few weeks it's dark all the time anyway.

@StarlightLady

France are an hour ahead of us throughout the year and it works for them.

I see no reason why Scotland shouldn’t have a different time zone to England. Australia has different time zones.

Europe has 3 time zones. Australia and America have numerous time zones.

The difference is they are continents rather than a country.

I want to know how much traffic crosses the Portuguese / Spanish border, how easy do they find it being in two time zones.

France are an hour ahead of us throughout the year and it works for them

Well yes, but that's because at the moment we change our (French) clocks at the same time the UK do. If the UK continue with the March/October system but France decides not to, then the time difference will not be consistent and this will make it even harder for me to work out what time Bake Off is on

I want to know how much traffic crosses the Portuguese / Spanish border, how easy do they find it being in two time zones.

Haven't got the numbers for that particular crossing to hand but I really suspect it's not as "difficult" as some would think, or are claiming...

In many parts of the world crossing time zones, even by road, even as part of the daily commute, is not that uncommon...for example plenty of traffic travels East/West in the States - Las Vegas is on a different time zone to many of the major towns not that far to the east of it..

If you walk one side of the Hoover dam to the other you cross both the Nevada/Arizona State line and you change time zones....Drive across the state line using the parallel very busy highway and your satnav display changes time, so it's an issue that patently is not insurmountable.

@Mischance

I disagree with the clocks going back - it causes an increase in road accidents every year. I can cope with dark evenings, but waking in the dark is deeply depressing.

I think you've misunderstood. The clocks going back, makes mornings lighter