The weather is changing, and the days have been getting noticeably shorter for the last few weeks now as we say goodbye to summer and head into autumn and winter.
But this month, the seasons will well and truly change, as the clocks fall back by an hour. This is something that happens every year at the end of October – but it is not always on the same date.
Government website, GOV.UK, explains exactly when you can expect clocks to change, with its guidance stating: “In the UK the clocks go forward one hour at 1am on the last Sunday in March, and back one hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October.
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“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 called Daylight Saving Time). When the clocks go back, the UK is on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).”
That means this year, your clocks will go back by an hour next weekend, on Sunday, October 27. At 1.59am, instead of the clocks ticking over to 2am, they will fall back to 1am.
This should mean an extra hour in bed, if you have the weekend off – although for night workers, it could mean an extra hour on shift. Your contract should state whether this is the case, as well as the rules around payment for extra hours worked.
With the clock change coinciding with Halloween weekend, it could also mean an extra hour of clubbing, if you’re out celebrating the spooky season.
For many, the clocks changing signals the start of autumn, as it means darkness falls earlier in the evening – although others consider the autumn equinox to be the turning point. This is when the sun shines on the equator, illuminating the northern and southern hemispheres with the same amount of rays.
The autumn equinox has already passed, falling this year on September 22. Clocks will now not change again until March 30, 2025, when time will jump forward an hour. Next year, October 26 is the date that clocks will ‘fall back’ again.