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?

@Bruffin....70 days without daylight in Alaska during the winter. 80 days of pure daylight in the summer

[quote Sheknowsaboutme]@WooMaWang i live rural (not semi, proper rural with no mains gas/sewage, nearest shop 3 miles away, no direct neighbours and no lighting. Gets dark early, and its proper dark and i LOVE it!

Still doesn’t bother me. And im in Snowdonia .[/quote]
I always loved it when it got dark about 3 before school finished. It was usually wet too, but I still loved it.

But that was never proper, rural dark. That’s always really great.

This was tried some years back but was scrapped due to school children having to go to school in the dark.

I genuinely don't understand why everyone is talking about how dangerous it is for the kids to walk to school in the dark, surely there are street lights? Or are your kids all walking to school in the back of beyond? This might be a really stupid comment but I don't see it being dark dark?

@Hahaha88

I genuinely don't understand why everyone is talking about how dangerous it is for the kids to walk to school in the dark, surely there are street lights? Or are your kids all walking to school in the back of beyond? This might be a really stupid comment but I don't see it being dark dark?

Because even with street lights it can be very difficult for drivers to see pedestrians in the dark. Before dawn on average is wetter, and colder than dusk. Which again adds to the visibility and safety issues, I add the cold as people wrap up, pull hoods up can't always see great round the hood. Noise is muffled.

Another thing to consider is safety of construction workers. They generally start at 8.30 am which becomes difficult if it's not getting light until 9.30 - 10 pm. Which means they end up working later or trying to use temporary lighting which is never as good as natural light.

Notimagain, I guess you and I possibly come from the same place. On the Monday morning when the clocks should have gone back at the start of the experiment I was driving to work past the Warneford Hospital and saw a lollipop man lying on his back on the pedestrian crossing, he had just been knocked over in what was described as the first death of the trial. That sight has remained with me all those years. I now live in Northumberland and would hate it if we didn't get our proper time back.

The last couple of weeks have felt like I'm getting up in the middle of the night. I desperately want the clocks to go back. They can stay back though, I don't see the point of BST.

I agree it’s horrible.

My opinion is that GMT should be for a much shorter period. So just do it from, say mid November to mid Feb. This week of October is too early and the clocks go forward again way too late.

But if there was a referendum on it, I would vote for BST all year round for sure.

I hate when the clocks go back. All well and good about Scottish children what about every fucker else coming home from work in the dark? Picking their kids up in the dark? But oh no Scottish children.

What time do you usually finish work @TrustTheGeneGenie ?

5 and yes it is pitch black by then.

Yeah, fuck Scottish children eh @TrustTheGeneGenie. Those bastards.

Agree it is a pain in the arse and not needed now.
I live with bipolar which significantly worsens with dark evenings and mornings

@BoingBoingyBoing

Yeah, fuck Scottish children eh *@TrustTheGeneGenie*. Those bastards.

I'm not saying fuck Scottish children, rather, not fuck to everyone else's children. You know?

I hate when the clocks go back. All well and good about Scottish children what about every fucker else coming home from work in the dark? Picking their kids up in the dark? But oh no Scottish children. hmm

Its not just Scottish children though, I'm in West Yorkshire where if we stay on GMT the sun won't rise until 9.23am in December.

It will be dark at 5 in winter even if the clocks don’t go back.

@MissyGez

I hate when the clocks go back. All well and good about Scottish children what about every fucker else coming home from work in the dark? Picking their kids up in the dark? But oh no Scottish children. hmm

Its not just Scottish children though, I'm in West Yorkshire where if we stay on GMT the sun won't rise until 9.23am in December.

No no, it's just Scottish children. We all know that it's exactly at the border where it makes a difference between light and dark mornings.

Exactly at the border.

@MissyGez

I hate when the clocks go back. All well and good about Scottish children what about every fucker else coming home from work in the dark? Picking their kids up in the dark? But oh no Scottish children. hmm

Its not just Scottish children though, I'm in West Yorkshire where if we stay on GMT the sun won't rise until 9.23am in December.

I'm in West Yorkshire too and I'd rather have dark mornings than dark nights.

It surely wouldn't be pitch black by 5pm if they clocks didn't go back.. just setting maybe but I could cope with that!

Noconceptofnormal
I agree, in all departments.

The arguments in favour are solid including savings on energy use when evenings are lighter. More children are taken to school than collected, so it's less safe for them later in the day if it's dark.
But however much evidence is presented,there is no will in Whitehall to change.

It’s dark around 4pm in winter now. So it will be dark around 5pm if we don’t put the clocks back.

@PuppyMonkey

It’s dark around 4pm in winter now. So it will be dark around 5pm if we don’t put the clocks back.

Yes but the sun would just be going down, it wouldn't be like the middle of the night surely?

Split it, go back half an hour and leave it 🤣

I mean personally I'd prefer BST+1 all year round so that there was light until 17:30-18:00 in the middle of winter and until 23:00 in summer but BST all year round would be a good start. Using GMT during winter is the worst possible time zone for many as it means that the window of natural light falls into the working (and in some cases school) day and that some people are stuck in windowless rooms during the entirety of daylight.

Well, I lived in Leeds in the 1980s, Genie, and being dark at 4pm was par for the course back then at least.