Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Who actually benefits from changing the clocks?

593 replies

shockwaze · 31/10/2023 06:13

Kids up at 5:30. Pretty sure that the same thing has happened in many, many houses this morning.

It's just an hour, but so disruptive to children.

Who benefits? Winds me up every year.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
9
Itsnotchristmasyet · 31/10/2023 08:33

I’ve always thought it was for the farmers too.

I used to worry when we had to change the clocks manually but now that the phones do it automatically then it’s no issue.

It’s no issue for me.
If the kids get up an hour early for a few days, so what.

Its hardly going to kill anyone waking up a bit earlier for a few days.

GRex · 31/10/2023 08:34

ithinkthatmaybeimdreaming · 31/10/2023 08:25

Every time the clocks change, there is a significant increase in traffic accidents and measurable reduction in productivity because people are late/early for work. There really isn't a good reason to keep it that is worth all the disruption.

I don't live in the UK but I keep reading this. I've never heard anything about there being more traffic accidents, not that I'm saying there aren't, however in my whole life I have never encountered anyone who has been late/early to work because the clocks have changed. It happens every year, it really isn't that difficult to get to grips with it Confused

Edited

If you Google, there are lots of articles e.g. https://www.zurich.co.uk/media-centre/clock-change-leads-to-a-surge-in-car-accidents-as-drivers-adapt. So, it probably does literally kill some people. Oh well.

https://www.zurich.co.uk/media-centre/clock-change-leads-to-a-surge-in-car-accidents-as-drivers-adapt.

kernowpicklepie · 31/10/2023 08:35

The advice for young children that are affected by the clock changes is to start adjusting their bedtime by 10 minutes or so each night 2 weeks prior, this should help them adjust when the clocks actually change.

I am quite fortunate however that neither of mine are that bothered by the clock changes and their wake up time was still between 7/8am. But then I also don't have strict naps/bedtimes and just go with when they are tired. It does help that they aren't needing to get up for nursery/school yet though and I'm aware that my luck may change when I need to put them to bed at certain times

BitofaStramash · 31/10/2023 08:35

@BCCoach

This isn’t an argument for daylight saving at all. Daylight saving happens in summer not winter

I didn't say it was.

Ir is the argument for returning to GMT in the winter.

MargotBamborough · 31/10/2023 08:37

I live in France, which is in the wrong time zone. It used to be in the same time zone as the UK but was forced to align with Berlin during the war and never changed back. It's shit. In December it doesn't get light until nearly 9am. And France is further south than the UK so the difference between summer and winter is less extreme.

In the later 1960s/early 1970s in the UK they experimented with not putting the clocks back. It was horrible for Scottish people because it was dark until about 10am in winter.

That's why we change the clocks back.

You could stick on GMT all year round but then you'd get an hour less daylight on summer evenings and it would be light at 4am instead.

Surely it's worth a minor inconvenience twice a year to get more benefit from natural sunlight the rest of the year.

rmc2001 · 31/10/2023 08:37

I loved the clocks changing, meant I had an extra hour of partying on Saturday night.

AInightingale · 31/10/2023 08:38

Yes it's a bloody nightmare when children are younger, I hated it.

I believe it's to give an extra hour of brightness in the morning, they experimented with BST all year round in the 1960s and it caused problems with darkness during the morning rush hour in the north and west. The east and south aren't as affected in the mornings. Depends where you live in the UK I suppose.

Willyoujustbequiet · 31/10/2023 08:39

TheGrimSqueakersFlea · 31/10/2023 08:17

Could you explain that please?

Show quote history

The border isn't a straight line.

I'm in Northumberland and further north than much of southern Scotland - Dumfries, Selkirk etc..

Just look at a map.

Sparehair · 31/10/2023 08:40

My understanding of the farmer thing was that it gave farms an extra hour of daylight in the summer season at a time of day ( ie the evening) when casual labour was prepared to work ( so not 2:30/3:30 in the morning). From recollection, there’s also some things that need to be done later in the day because of dew or something so for harvesting it made a big difference. It was introduced at a time when there was much more manual labour so deffo less relevant now but might still be relevant.

personally I like the clock change as I’d rather have longer evenings in summer than it be light at 3am and I’d rather a slightly lighter morning than a lighter evening- honestly 4:30 vs 5:30 makes no difference to me- kids still play all their sports floodlit in winter as they start around 6pm.

MargotBamborough · 31/10/2023 08:40

BitofaStramash · 31/10/2023 08:27

@Mylobsterteapot

Edinburgh is not west of Bristol…

Oh but it is

The longitude – which is used to determine the east-west position of a point on Earth - of Edinburgh is 3.18 degrees, while Bristol’s is 2.58 degrees.

That would be an amazing quiz question.

I just had to look this up because I didn't believe it could possibly be true.

mikado1 · 31/10/2023 08:41

ithinkthatmaybeimdreaming · 31/10/2023 08:25

Every time the clocks change, there is a significant increase in traffic accidents and measurable reduction in productivity because people are late/early for work. There really isn't a good reason to keep it that is worth all the disruption.

I don't live in the UK but I keep reading this. I've never heard anything about there being more traffic accidents, not that I'm saying there aren't, however in my whole life I have never encountered anyone who has been late/early to work because the clocks have changed. It happens every year, it really isn't that difficult to get to grips with it Confused

Edited

I booked a taxi to the airport on the Sunday of the clock change one October. I waited on the doorstep but no sign. When I called, ghr taxi man said he thought I meant 'old time' !!!

gannett · 31/10/2023 08:42

Seems to me the extra hour of daylight would be more useful in the late afternoon than at 7am. 7am is a miserable, purely functional time of day anyway - it may as well be dark as it's not going to be enjoyable regardless. Pitch black at 5pm or even 4pm just curtails the day unnecessarily.

Notamum12345577 · 31/10/2023 08:44

It worked for me this time, I had to be up at 5:30 for work, I got to bed about midnight, but it meant I was in bed for 6 and a half hours and not five and a half. Win! 😁

Willyoujustbequiet · 31/10/2023 08:45

So to answer the OP yabvu.

It benefits a huge chunk of the country, certainly not just Scotland and its been proven to save lives.

Mrsjayy · 31/10/2023 08:45

HerMammy · 31/10/2023 08:21

North of England and Scotland benefit from it otherwise we would be getting barely any daylight.
We're not in the artic, it's been light since 7am and didn't get dark until 5 yesterday, 10 hrs of daylight.

I mean this I know I was a moaner but "the North" isn't as dreary as some think .

Nottodaty · 31/10/2023 08:46

I don’t mind the change of clocks this time of year but the summer change really knocks me! I’m not a morning person ! So takes a couple of weeks for me to adjust!

SkinnyMalinkyLankyLegs · 31/10/2023 08:47

shockwaze · 31/10/2023 07:56

Oh @saffy2

Hardly nonsensical, I'm yet to be convinced it helps anyone. No one here has the answer.

I'm posting between bathing my two cherubs as well. I do apologise.

Plenty of people have given you valid answers but you don't want to hear them!

Another answer....it also benefits nightshift workers when the clocks go forward one hour! But the opposite for the poor sods on nightshift when the clocks go back.

MargotBamborough · 31/10/2023 08:49

gannett · 31/10/2023 08:42

Seems to me the extra hour of daylight would be more useful in the late afternoon than at 7am. 7am is a miserable, purely functional time of day anyway - it may as well be dark as it's not going to be enjoyable regardless. Pitch black at 5pm or even 4pm just curtails the day unnecessarily.

It's not 7am in December though, is it?

In the south of England it gets light at around 8am in December. What do you think happens further north?

Then imagine you put the clocks an hour ahead so it gets light closer to 9am in the south of England.

Pushmepullu · 31/10/2023 08:49

shockwaze · 31/10/2023 06:18

Well, fuck fhem.

Show quote history

Yes, fuck the farmers, you know, the people who put food on our table.

What is the point of your thread?

Fahbeep · 31/10/2023 08:50

Permanent BST for England and Wales / status quo for Scotland. Why do we need to be on the same clock?

ValuableLimeLesson · 31/10/2023 08:51

shockwaze · 31/10/2023 07:17

I'm in trouble with my husband for 'shouting' FUCK OFF when I heard the first child and checked my clock.

'Raises the temperature' apparently.

Who died and made him King of the Killjoys?

Willyoujustbequiet · 31/10/2023 08:52

Fahbeep · 31/10/2023 08:50

Permanent BST for England and Wales / status quo for Scotland. Why do we need to be on the same clock?

You need to look at a map.

How will that work for the parts of England that are further north than parts of Scotland?

Denimdreams · 31/10/2023 08:52

Utterbunkum · 31/10/2023 08:16

Aaargh.

Disgruntled Devon girl, now living in North Yorkshire and really fed up of hearing about 'the South'. You don't mean the South. You mean London. At best, you mean the South East (which still has farmers, btw).
Sorry to derail the thread, but I have seen a lot of North/South comments and it's always the same. England doesn't end in Surrey, you know. There's a lot more 'South', and an awful lot of it is farmland.

Show quote history

Well said!
I can't believe anyone can be so ignorant , it's cringeworthy.

Guess what ?
Crops grow better in warm, light conditions, lovely rich sweet grass to graze on 😂

skyfalldown · 31/10/2023 08:53

I’m in Scotland and I see no benefit, I’m asleep during the first hour of daylight and finish work in the pitch black. And it’s not for the farmers either, that’s a myth that refuses to die.

Sparehair · 31/10/2023 08:54

Fahbeep · 31/10/2023 08:50

Permanent BST for England and Wales / status quo for Scotland. Why do we need to be on the same clock?

Because loads of people close to the border work on the other side. It would be a massive PITA for them. Countries with multiple time zones tend to be huge. It’s not something that they take lightly.