Hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Understandable English Podcast.
I'm Oliver and today we are going to be talking about clock changes in the UK.
So what is that?
What am I talking about?
So twice per year the time in the UK changes.
So how we calculate time.
And this happens this year on Sunday the 31st of March and again on Sunday the 27th of October.
So what does this mean?
Why do we do it?
And what are the arguments for and against?
Let's explore.
Okay, on Sunday, the 31st of March, so this Sunday the clocks will go forward one hour at 1am, and this always happens on the last Sunday in March.
And this enters what we call British Summertime, BST.
So what is BST?
BST is also sometimes called Daylight Savings Time, and this is in the summertime spring and summertime in the UK when we have longer days.
So the time goes forward so that we have longer days with more daylight in the evening.
And then again at the end of the year or towards the end of the year in autumn.
On the last Sunday in October the time goes back one hour at 2 am.
So it jumps backwards.
And that means that there are brighter mornings, so longer mornings and shorter evenings.
So the days become shorter.
They start earlier, but they finish earlier.
And that's why it seems in the UK much darker at 5 p.m. after work, for example.
So, in general, by turning the clocks back an hour during autumn, so by removing an hour, this provides people with more sunlight in the morning.
And by turning the clocks forward, so by plus one hour.
In the spring, this brings us lighter evenings.
That is the general idea.
So why was BST British Summer Time introduced or created?
Let's have a look at some history.
So British Summer Time was first introduced as part of the Summer Time Act of 1916.
The idea has been around for a very long time.
And even as early as 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote about a similar idea, so in the US.
But in the UK the main reason why the government adopted, so accepted, this idea in 1916 was during World War One.
And the reason why was the politicians believed it would help reduce the demand for coal.
Let's think about that.
So if the evenings are darker in the winter time and the days are shorter, more people will go to bed in the winter time.
It's cold, they will finish their days earlier.
And in the summertime it is brighter for longer, which means less people will be using lights at nighttime and electricity and will be burning less coal in their fireplaces because they can see and use the light.
So in general, the idea is that overall, people will use less energy.
Of course, this is just the reason during World War I and it's not the reason why people do it today or why we still do it.
However, the UK was not the first to do this.
So it may have been the first major country in the modern time to introduce a measure like this.
But there are even records of the ancient Romans so the Roman Empire following a similar practice in order to use their time efficiently during the day.
But often now some of us ask ourselves why?
Why do we still do this?
It's a bit strange.
In the winter time especially, some people feel like the days are too short.
Yes, we have brighter mornings, so more light and sunlight in the morning time, But the days finish so quickly and by the time you've finished work it's already dark.
So let's look at some arguments for and against this change in time.
So the main argument in favor of the autumn change to Greenwich Mean Time, so GMT, is its effect on the mornings.
So whenever we um, whenever we put the clocks forward or backwards so we have an extra hour in bed and the days become shorter but the mornings are brighter, It ensures that most people who work from 9 am till 5 pm in the UK will arrive at work in daylight.
For example even in Scotland.
So in Edinburgh official daylight never comes later than 845 am, even in the middle of winter.
So it is making sure that it is always bright by the time it gets to 9am so that everyone can work.
Especially outdoor workers can work in daylight and not in the dark.
And some of the ideas around this is that it helps with productivity and efficiency.
So we're not working in the dark.
It's safer.
It's more effective and more efficient.
It also ensures that it is bright for children traveling to school or going to school as well, and really should make the morning times easier in general.
So what do some people say that are against this change in time in winter and also in summer?
So opponents, opponents.
So an opponent is someone who is against something.
So opponents of our biannual time switching so that change in time twice per year say that at its very best it is confusing.
And at its worst, it is actually bad for our health.
So what does the research actually say?
So there are some studies which show us that the first weekdays after the clocks go forward in spring are associated with an increase in heart attacks by up to 24.
And the reason for this might be the change in sleep and the effects of sleep on our heart's health.
But scientists are quick to point out that this crazy increase very quickly drops again and actually compensates.
So the decrease is almost as big as the increase, meaning it does almost nothing to the data and statistics.
So what other reasons do we have?
The main reason is the effect on sleep.
Changing our time by one hour in spring and one hour in autumn might not sound like that big a deal, but across a population, the effect and impact on sleep could be really, really big.
And there are some studies showing that there's an increase in car accidents around these switches because people are not sleeping as well.
However, there is also more studies and people who are in favour, so they support this time change, with the fact that morning light is thought to help wake us up and make us more alert.
So it's safer because we feel more awake with those brighter mornings in the wintertime.
And then in the summertime, we naturally have more sunlight anyway.
We're closer to the sun and we have naturally longer days, with both bright mornings and much longer brighter evenings.
In my opinion, I think in the summertime, it is a win-win.
So we have really long days with lots more sunlight.
But in wintertime...
I do think it's quite depressing.
So it is bright when you arrive at work, but it is still dark most of the time when you wake up.
And then when you leave work, it is still dark.
But of course, I can't make the decision about what time is best or what time system we should use.
I hope this was interesting for you to hear about.
I'm curious or interested to hear do you also change the time in your country with different seasons?
I know lots of countries have stopped doing this.
We still do it here in the UK.
And I'm interested to hear, do you change the time in your country too?
Let me know in the comments below, and I would love for you to share this podcast with other friends or students who are studying English too.
Thank you for listening and have an amazing day.
