British Summer Time
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British Summer Time (BST), known in Ireland as Irish Summer Time (IST), is the changing of the clocks in effect in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October each year. In both cases, the change takes place at 01:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT/UTC). Currently it is also known as Western European Summer Time as used in Portugal and the Canary Islands.
While the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland always maintain the same time as each other, there is a slight difference how they maintain it. In the United Kingdom standard time is (GMT/UTC) and the clocks are moved forward one hour for summer. But in Republic of Ireland (according to the [Standard Time Act 1968]) standard time is CET and the clocks are turned back for winter time.
The start and end dates of British Summer Time and European Summer Time are somewhat asymmetrical in terms of daylight hours; for example, the time of year with a similar amount of daylight to late October is mid-February, well before the start of BST. The asymmetry reflects temperature more than the length of daylight.
Starting in 1916, the dates for the beginning and end of BST each year were mandated by the British Parliament. In February 2002, the Summer Time Order 2002[link] permanently changed the dates and times to match European rules for moving to and from daylight saving time. The European compromise was closer to previous British practice than to the practice elsewhere in Europe.
Occasional debate breaks out over the validity of BST, due to Britain's latitudinal length. In 2004, an interesting contribution was made by English MP Nigel Beard, who tabled a Private Member's Bill in the House of Commons proposing that England and Wales should be able to determine their own time independently of Scotland and Northern Ireland. If it had been passed into law, this bill would potentially have seen the United Kingdom with two different timezones for the first time since the abolition of Dublin Mean Time (25 minutes behind Greenwich) on August 23rd 1916.
During World War II, Britain retained the hour's advance on GMT at the start of the winter of 1940 and continued to advance the clocks by an extra hour during the summers until the end of the summer of 1944. During these summers Britain was thus 2 hours ahead of GMT and operating on British Double Summer Time (BDST). The clocks were not advanced for the summer of 1945 and were reverted to GMT at the end of the summer of 1945. In 1947 the clocks were advanced by one hour twice during the spring and put back twice during the autumn so that Britain was on BDST during the height of the summer.
Safety campaigners, including the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), have made recommendations that British Summer Time be maintained during the winter months, and that a "double summertime" be applied to the current British Summer Time period, putting the UK two hours ahead of GMT during summer. RoSPA suggest this would reduce the number of accidents over this period as a result of the lighter evenings, as was demonstrated when the British Standard Time scheme was trialled between 1968 and 1971, when Britain remained on UTC+1 all year. RoSPA have called for the two year trial to be repeated with modern evaluation methods. The proposal is opposed by farmers and other outdoor workers, and many residents of Scotland, as it would mean that, in northern Britain, the winter sunrise would not occur until 10:00 or even later.
Portugal moved to Central European Time and Central European Summer Time in 1992, but reverted to Western European Time in 1996 after concluding that energy savings were small, it had a disturbing effect on children's sleeping habits as it would not get dark until 22:00 or 22:30 in summer evenings with repercussions on standards of learning and school performance, and insurance companies reported a rise in the number of accidents.[link]
In 2005, Lord Tanlaw introduced the Lighter Evenings (Experiment) Bill [link] into the House of Lords, which would advance winter and summer time by one hour for a three-year trial period. The proposal was rejected by the government. The bill received its second reading on 24 March 2006; it is unlikely to pass as it is not supported by the Government. [link]
Start and end dates of British Summer Time
| Summer | Begins (GMT) | Ends (GMT) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Sun 27 March 01:00 | Sun 30 October 01:00 | |
| 2010 | Sun 28 March 01:00 | Sun 31 October 01:00 | |
| 2009 | Sun 29 March 01:00 | Sun 25 October 01:00 | |
| 2008 | Sun 30 March 01:00 | Sun 26 October 01:00 | |
| 2007 | Sun 25 March 01:00 | Sun 28 October 01:00 | |
| 2006 | Sun 26 March 01:00 | Sun 29 October 01:00 | |
| 2005 | Sun 27 March 01:00 | Sun 30 October 01:00 | |
| 2004 | Sun 28 March 01:00 | Sun 31 October 01:00 | |
| 2003 | Sun 30 March 01:00 | Sun 26 October 01:00 | |
| 2002 | Sun 31 March 01:00 | Sun 27 October 01:00 | Moves in line with EU |
| 2001 | Sun 25 March 01:00 | Sun 28 October 01:00 | |
| 2000 | Sun 26 March 01:00 | Sun 29 October 01:00 | |
| 1999 | Sun 28 March 01:00 | Sun 31 October 01:00 | |
| 1998 | Sun 29 March 01:00 | Sun 25 October 01:00 | |
| 1997 | Sun 30 March 01:00 | Sun 26 October 01:00 | |
| 1996 | Sun 31 March 01:00 | Sun 27 October 01:00 | |
| 1995 | Sun 26 March 01:00 | Sun 22 October 01:00 | |
| 1994 | Sun 27 March 01:00 | Sun 23 October 01:00 | |
| 1993 | Sun 28 March 01:00 | Sun 24 October 01:00 | |
| 1992 | Sun 29 March 01:00 | Sun 25 October 01:00 | |
| 1991 | Sun 31 March 01:00 | Sun 27 October 01:00 | |
| 1990 | Sun 25 March 01:00 | Sun 28 October 01:00 | |
| 1989 | Sun 26 March 01:00 | Sun 29 October 01:00 | |
| 1988 | Sun 27 March 01:00 | Sun 23 October 01:00 | |
| 1987 | Sun 29 March 01:00 | Sun 25 October 01:00 | |
| 1986 | Sun 30 March 01:00 | Sun 26 October 01:00 | |
| 1985 | Sun 31 March 01:00 | Sun 27 October 01:00 | |
| 1984 | Sun 25 March 01:00 | Sun 28 October 01:00 | |
| 1983 | Sun 27 March 01:00 | Sun 23 October 01:00 | |
| 1982 | Sun 28 March 01:00 | Sun 24 October 01:00 | |
| 1981 | Sun 29 March 01:00 | Sun 25 October 01:00 | |
| 1980 | Sun 16 March 02:00 | Sun 26 October 02:00 | |
| 1979 | Sun 18 March 02:00 | Sun 28 October 02:00 | |
| 1978 | Sun 19 March 02:00 | Sun 29 October 02:00 | |
| 1977 | Sun 20 March 02:00 | Sun 23 October 02:00 | |
| 1976 | Sun 21 March 02:00 | Sun 24 October 02:00 | |
| 1975 | Sun 16 March 02:00 | Sun 26 October 02:00 | |
| 1974 | Sun 17 March 02:00 | Sun 27 October 02:00 | |
| 1973 | Sun 18 March 02:00 | Sun 28 October 02:00 | |
| 1972 | Sun 19 March 02:00 | Sun 29 October 02:00 | |
| 1971 | Sun 31 October 02:00 | BST all year ends. | |
| 1970 | BST all year | ||
| 1969 | BST all year | ||
| 1968 | Sun 18 February 01:00 | BST all year begins. | |
| 1967 | Sun 19 March 02:00 | Sun 29 October 02:00 | |
| 1966 | Sun 20 March 02:00 | Sun 23 October 02:00 | |
| 1965 | Sun 21 March 02:00 | Sun 24 October 02:00 | |
| 1964 | Sun 22 March 02:00 | Sun 25 October 02:00 | |
| 1963 | Sun 31 March 02:00 | Sun 27 October 02:00 | |
| 1962 | Sun 25 March 02:00 | Sun 28 October 02:00 | |
| 1961 | Sun 26 March 02:00 | Sun 29 October 02:00 | |
| 1960 | Tue 19 April 02:00 | Sun 2 October 02:00 | |
| 1959 | Sun 12 April 02:00 | Sun 4 October 02:00 | |
| 1958 | Sun 20 April 02:00 | Sun 5 October 02:00 | |
| 1957 | Sun 14 April 02:00 | Sun 6 October 02:00 | |
| 1956 | Sun 22 April 02:00 | Sun 7 October 02:00 | |
| 1955 | Sun 17 April 02:00 | Sun 2 October 02:00 | |
| 1954 | Sun 11 April 02:00 | Sun 3 October 02:00 | |
| 1953 | Sun 19 April 02:00 | Sun 4 October 02:00 | |
| 1952 | Sun 20 April 02:00 | Sun 26 October 02:00 | |
| 1951 | Sun 15 April 02:00 | Sun 21 October 02:00 | |
| 1950 | Sun 16 April 02:00 | Sun 29 October 02:00 | |
| 1949 | Sun 3 April 02:00 | Sun 30 October 02:00 | |
| 1948 | Sun 14 March 02:00 | Sun 31 October 02:00 | |
| 1947 | Sun 16 March 02:00 | ||
| 1946 | Sun 14 April 02:00 | Sun 6 October 02:00 | |
| 1945 | Sun 7 October 02:00 | Back to GMT | |
| 1945 | Sun 8 April 01:00 | Sun 15 July 01:00 | BDST (2 hours ahead) |
| 1944 | Sun 2 April 01:00 | Sun 17 September 01:00 | BDST (2 hours ahead) |
| 1943 | Sun 4 April 01:00 | Sun 15 August 01:00 | BDST (2 hours ahead) |
| 1942 | Sun 5 April 01:00 | Sun 9 August 01:00 | BDST (2 hours ahead) |
| 1941 | Sun 4 May 01:00 | Sun 10 August 01:00 | BDST (2 hours ahead) |
| 1940 | Sun 15 February 02:00 | BST for remainder of war years | |
| 1939 | Sun 16 April 02:00 | Sun 19 November 02:00 | |
| 1938 | Sun 10 April 02:00 | Sun 2 October 02:00 | |
| 1937 | Sun 18 April 02:00 | Sun 3 October 02:00 | |
| 1936 | Sun 19 April 02:00 | Sun 4 October 02:00 | |
| 1935 | Sun 14 April 02:00 | Sun 6 October 02:00 | |
| 1934 | Sun 22 April 02:00 | Sun 7 October 02:00 | |
| 1933 | Sun 9 April 02:00 | Sun 8 October 02:00 | |
| 1932 | Sun 17 April 02:00 | Sun 2 October 02:00 | |
| 1930 | Sun 13 April 02:00 | Sun 5 October 02:00 | |
| 1929 | Sun 21 April 02:00 | Sun 6 October 02:00 | |
| 1928 | Sun 22 April 02:00 | Sun 7 October 02:00 | |
| 1927 | Sun 10 April 02:00 | Sun 2 October 02:00 | |
| 1926 | Sun 18 April 02:00 | Sun 3 October 02:00 | |
| 1925 | Sun 19 April 02:00 | Sun 4 October 02:00 | |
| 1924 | Sun 13 April 02:00 | Sun 21 September 02:00 | |
| 1923 | Sun 22 April 02:00 | Sun 16 September 02:00 | |
| 1922 | Sun 26 March 02:00 | Sun 8 October 02:00 | |
| 1921 | Sun 3 April 02:00 | Sun 3 October 02:00 | |
| 1920 | Sun 28 March 02:00 | Sun 25 October 02:00 | |
| 1919 | Sun 30 March 02:00 | Sun 29 September 02:00 | |
| 1918 | Sun 24 March 02:00 | Sun 30 September 02:00 | |
| 1917 | Sun 8 April 02:00 | Sun 17 September 02:00 | |
| 1916 | Sun 21 May 02:00 | Sun 1 October 02:00 |
Books
- Prerau, David. [ Saving the Daylight: Why We Put the Clocks Forward] (Granta Books; £14.99; ISBN 1-86207-796-7) — The Story of Summer Time/Daylight Saving Time with a focus on the U.K.
External links
- [A Brief History of BST/DST]
- [History of legal time in Britain]
- [BBC news report]: Safety call as clocks go back.
- [RoSPA Press Release]: RoSPA calls for switch to lighter nights to save lives!
- [BST FAQ]
- [Official British Governemnt site listing Summer time dates for 2006-2010 inclusive]
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