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When do the clocks go back in the UK? October 2022 clock change date

Alarm clock on a background of yellow fallen foliage
It’ll soon be time to change the clocks and ‘fall back’ (Picture: Getty Images)

The clocks changing happens every year, although it catches many of us by surprise.

The time on your smartphone and laptop will change automatically, but you will have to manually adjust the time on your oven, car, and wall clocks.

We’re currently using British Summer Time (BST) – which means that the next change will see the clocks go back, moving us into Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

But with the last days of summer approaching and autumn rolling in, when exactly do the clocks change?

Here is all you need to know so you can sleep easy.

When do the clocks go back in the UK?

The clocks go back one day before Halloween this year, on Sunday, October 30 2022.

A woman lying in bed
You’ll get an extra hour in bed (Picture: Getty Images)

It’ll give you an extra hour in bed, just before things get spooky.

From then on, we’ll officially be back on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) for the autumn/winter season.

That also means the nights will start to get darker even faster, cumulating in the longest night of the year: Wednesday, December 21 for 2022.

When will the clocks next spring forward in 2023?

In spring 2023, the clocks will ‘spring forward’ an hour.

That means we’ll lose an hour in bed, but we’ll start to notice lighter evenings.

A clock in spring
The clock will spring forward in, well, spring (Picture: Getty Images)

The switch will happen on Sunday, March 26 2023, and we’ll be officially on BST from then on.

So you know, British Summer Time (BST) is also sometimes displayed as GMT+1.

Why do we change the clocks twice a year?

Though there is no actual scientific reason for it, the clocks get changed to make the most of daylight during the seasons.

The idea was originally suggested by Benjamin Franklin back in 1784 – when, during a trip to Paris, he pointed out that if the locals altered their sleep schedule and got up earlier when it was lighter they could save on lamp oil and candles.

Builder William Willett – who was the great-grandfather of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin – was also in favour of changing the clocks, publishing his thoughts on the matter in the 1907 leaflet The Waste Of Daylight in which he encouraged folks to get up earlier.

A blue clock surrounded by a pile of leaves
The clock change will bring in darker mornings and evenings (Picture: Getty Images)

However, the actual changing of the clocks wasn’t introduced until the spring of 1916 by the German government and army during World War One, in a bid to save and conserve energy by relying on daylight hours.

Other governments soon followed suit – including the UK – and we’ve done it ever since.

Britain also adopted Double Daylight Savings Time during World War Two – putting the clocks two hours ahead – although this reverted back to the usual one hour ahead in 1947.

The country also experimented with leaving the clocks on a British Summer Time setting (aka GMT+1) during 1968 and 1971, but reverted back to GMT after the dark mornings in winter proved unpopular.

Do the clocks change elsewhere across the world?

Not every countyr have daylight saving time, but around 70 countries have some form of it.

Europe, North America, South America and Australasia, change their clocks.

Clocks across the globe
Whether or not clocks change differs across the globe (Picture: Getty Images)

However, many countries in Africa and Asia situated around the equator do not change the time.

And not every country changes their clocks on the same date. For example., in the US, the clocks don’t go back until November 6, 2022.

Most countries in Europe will be changing their clocks in line with the UK on October – for a full list of daylight saving clock changes across the globe in 2022, visit timeanddate.com.

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