To think it's not getting as dark as it normally does by 6pm this time of year?

[adrianmolesmole]

It's 6pm and the sky looks like this (pic).

I remember it's usually pitch black by 4pm this time of year. AIBU to think it's odd?

ITT we spot the posters who never pay attention to the clocks changing or science lessons in school.

It isn't dark at 4pm until December. Autumn as in changing leaf colour is later this year probably because the temperature has been warmer than average. We hav

Had a mild but very wet autumn in nw England. A pain for drying clothes.

This thread is bonkers! Climate change has nothing to do with the way the World spins!

This reminds me of the woman in the next village who complained about a solar farm because it would steal sunlight from her house!

The clock change is the latest it can be this year. It’ll be darker much earlier from Sunday.

Leaves definitely changing colour in York. And was pretty dark by about 6:15 last night.

4pm in December? In Scotland it gets dark so early I feel like we lose the day.

you should probably fire up google maps and check out a map of the uk. It’ll blow your mind

This can’t change unless axis shift in pp

Yes stuff like leaves changing is impacted by weather but not this

This website might be of interest to some:

www.timeanddate.com/sun/uk/london

Location in question can be changed……

it's dark at 4pm in December, not October.

Taken from my bbc weather app. This is for Sunday - which to my knowledge is still October.

@AlphabetAerobics

Taken from my bbc weather app. This is for Sunday - which to my knowledge is still October.

That snapshot is interesting but of course Sunrise/sunset timings are very dependent on location, even from one part of the UK to another.

In the context of the thread it would be interesting to know where in the UK gets a 1608 local time (UTC) sunset this Sunday - ? Somewhere in northern/eastern Scotland perhaps ?

just checked those times - is it for somewhere like Lerwick perhaps?

Sunset for me in Newcastle on Sunday is 16:32, but Saturday it’s 17:34 so anything for Sunday will take into account the clocks changing (which they do on Saturday night/Sunday morning)

@AlphabetAerobics

Taken from my bbc weather app. This is for Sunday - which to my knowledge is still October.

Do you mean Sunday coming up?

That’s not so surprising

Marsha - yes, Sunday coming. Just heavy with me rolling my eyes at those who think because it doesn’t happen below the Watford gap it’s a flamin’ lie! 😂

What a ridiculous post. 🙄

[/Anorak on]

As a bit of background and a FWIW once upon a time town’s ran their municipal clocks based on local solar time, which was tied to the Suns movements…roughly speaking:

Local Noon in town = Sun due South

That meant that example there was a four’ish minute difference between Noon in Central London and Noon in Reading, and best part of half an hours difference between Noon in London and Noon in south west Wales.

It all became unworkable when the railways were introduced and people were able to move large distances quickly…and so the idea of standard time and time zones was born.

However sun still works the same way so saying it’s dark here early needs a qualifying location…

[/anorak]

It might be that you are used to the clocks going back before half term (if you are in England)?

Usually it seems to happen before - but we had a week's grace this year as 31st is a Sunday.

I actually thought it was very dark last night just before 6pm and thought oh goodness it will be this dark at 5 next week

@Spikeyball

Had a mild but very wet autumn in nw England. A pain for drying clothes.

Yes, really! Such a pain for getting clothes dry!

Where I am the sunset is a whole minute earlier this year compared to 2011. Don't think it's changing much.

The trees are all beautiful autumn colours here in Liverpool. I took my GC into town on the bus and unusually sat in the top front seat, so noticed. It went darkish at around 5.50pm, we were on the train going home, I was thinking of staying to see the light festival. We've already been to see Blackpool lights, so again are aware of what time it goes dark and I don't see a difference to other years.

Also worth noting that "sunset" and the sky getting properly dark are not the same thing. Most people wouldn't define it as properly dark until what is usually called "dusk" (when civil twilight ends).

Take this evening where I live:
Sunset - 17:38
Dusk / Civil twilight ends - 18:16
Nightfall / Naughtical twilight ends - 18:58

I know that it won't feel properly dark until gone 6pm. In fact, I went for run up on the (obviously unlit) moor at 6pm earlier this week and didn't need to put my headtorch on until around 6:20pm. So it was gone sunset, but perfectly light enough to run off road without lights.

Even in John O'Groats (far north of Scotland) on the shortest day, Sunset might be at around 3:20pm, but Dusk isn't until gone 4 o'clock.

I do a lot of winter climbing in the northern Highlands, and I always think of 4pm as the "properly dark, need a headtorch" time of day in midwinter.