When and why do the clocks go back in October 2021?

Smartphones and laptops update themselves, but we still need to manually change clocks and watches.

Here is a guide on when you will need to do so, as well as information on why we do this.

When did the clocks go forward?

The clocks went forward at 1am on Sunday, March 28, 2021.

This marked the beginning of British Summer Time (BST).

Now this is over, you can say goodbye to the brighter, longer evenings and darker mornings.

No more sunny evenings

Why do the clocks go back?

Putting the clocks back gives an extra hour of daylight in autumn and winter.

When the clocks change, we will move into Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as opposed to BST.

British Summer Time was introduced in 1916, to help save valuable resources during the First World War.

Mystery officer in World War One

In the summertime, early morning daylight was not being used as people slept, by moving the clocks forward in summer, we would get darker mornings but lighter, longer evenings.

The clocks then revert back to GMT in Autumn.

There have been attempts to change the clocks, including bringing them forward two hours ahead of GMT during the Second World War and for periods in the spring of 1947, when there was fuel shortages.

There was even an unsuccessful experiment between 1968 and 1971, which kept clocks one hour ahead of GMT all year round, the results saw an increase in injuries.

When do the clocks go back this year?

In the UK, the clocks always go back one hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October.

Get this one in your diary – the clocks will go back on Halloween, Sunday, October 31, 2021.

halloween stock

Don't forget to take advantage of that extra hour in bed (or an extra hour in fancy dress).

The clocks going back means we are going back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which give us brighter mornings and darker evenings.