Clocks will go forward by one hour at 01:00 GMT on 29 March 2026, marking the start of British Summer Time (BST) and the return of longer, brighter evenings. The change means losing an hour of sleep, but the trade-off is more daylight in the evenings.
The phrase “spring forward, fall back” helps remember the direction. After the change, sunrise will appear an hour later, leading to darker mornings initially, but sunset will be later, extending daylight into the night.
Daylight Saving Time was first introduced by Germany in 1916 during World War I to conserve coal. The UK adopted it as British Summer Time shortly after. During World War II, the UK used British Double Summer Time, moving clocks two hours ahead of GMT in summer.
A three-year experiment from 1968 to 1971 kept BST all year. Road casualty numbers fell, but analysis attributed most of the reduction to drink-driving laws introduced in 1967, not the clock change. In northern Scotland, darker winter mornings led to increased serious accidents, fueling opposition to permanent BST.
Critics compare the clock change to mild jet lag, noting short-term effects on mood and concentration. Despite periodic calls to abolish the twice-yearly change, no plans to modify daylight saving in the UK currently exist.
