Englishmum

Just a heads up in case you're 'phoning home' this weekend:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ummertime.html

The clocks 'fall back' one hour in the UK.

They don't change here in the US until 1st November. I understand that this later date (which happened for the first time last year) was one of the last acts that the outgoing Dubya did, because the reason was that parents wanted their kiddies going out to 'trick or treat' in as much daylight as possible. It seems that it's a permanent change to daylight savings ie. always the first Sunday after Hallowe'en.

neil

Cynical me thinks it was the candy industry lobbying for it, so they could sell more candy because there'd be more time for the kids to be out.

Jerseygirl

The dates changed in 2007. I wish we could stay with the summertime hours...I hate when it goes dark at 5 pm. It will no doubt be dark just after 4 pm next week when I'm in the UK.

dunroving

Actually, you may have an extra hour ... I think it's been getting dark around 6 p.m, so now after the time change will be 5 p.m. ... if I'm wrong, I will post an update later (around 6 p.m. ... )

Are you heading to Cheshire?

Jerseygirl

I was being sarcastic...it all depends on the weather. If the weather's not so good it goes dark earlier. I was in the UK last year in November and some days it was almost dark just after 4 pm. When in gets to around 2 pm the light starts to fade...unlike here where it can go from sunlight to darkness in 30 mins all year round.

Juswus

thanks!
I always forget

JAJ

If the United Kingdom stayed with "summertime hours" it would effectively be the same as putting London clocks on the same time-zone as Berlin (1 hour east). Why would any country want to put its clocks out of synch with the sun?

No sunlight until 9am is not a particularly good idea.

Jerseygirl

I remember in the late 60's/early 70's when the UK stayed with BST all year round. It only lasted a couple of years because of that very reason. As I'm not a morning person I prefer darker mornings and lighter evenings.

JAJ

You can always keep your own watch on daylight saving time if you prefer, as long as your work/life schedule allows it.

The twice-annual calls in Britain for the clocks to be "harmonised with europe" (ie placed on the same time as Berlin) is a symptom of a lack of national morale and common sense. If having the clocks an hour forward is such a good idea, why stop at 1 hour? Why not keep the clocks 2, 3 or 4 hours forward? Do people in Los Angeles want their clocks to be on New York time?

fatbrit

Never worry about it here in AZ. We don't bother with this malarkey!

Jerseygirl

I love the midsummer daylight hours in the UK when it goes fully dark around 10.30pm and starts to get light around 3 am. If only it could be the same all year round.

JAJ

Unfortunately (stating the obvious) there is no avoiding the fact that the average daylight is 12 hours a day and if you get more at some times of the year, you'll get less at others.

Buy a second home in New Zealand?

dunroving

OK, missed the sarcasm ... but just as an FYI, today was a murky day, and Suzy and I just got back (5 p.m.) from a walk and it's "dusk", so bearing in mind we are up north, I'm guessing Cheshire will be light until at least 5 p.m. this time of year.

Not looking forward to leaving for work in the dark and getting home in the dark ... but I guess that's what we've got from now until Spring.

[Edit: 15 mins later and it's now dark; it doesn't take long to switch]

Jan Alaska

Doesn't make much difference to us here, Alaska has its own timezone so I dont really understand why it takes part in the changing clocks thing. Sunrise is currently 9:08am so will be 8 (ish) next week but within a few weeks it will be up to 10am and setting at 3pm.

Of course further north they only have another month or so of actual daylight before their endless night begins and doesnt break till sometime at the end of January and they still change their clocks!

Englishmum

Ha ha - I currently have a second 'home' in Singapore, which is 85 miles (1 degree north) of the equator.

You absolutely do get 12 hours of daylight and darkness all year round. It gets light every day at around 7am and dark at 7pm, varying by only a few minutes throughout the year.

There is no such thing as the dawn or twilight - it really is as if a light has been switched on or off. Sometimes I go up to the rooftop on our apartment to watch the sunset....but as soon as the sun has set it is dark within 5 minutes.

There are no seasons either as it's a tropical climate; it's either the 'dry' season or the monsoon season (as it is right now). There is often an amazing - and often scary -thunderstorm at around 4pm with an incredible amount of rain, but half an hour later it's all over.

Just like Jerseygirl, I love the English Summertime with the long hours of light in the evenings.....when I moved to NJ (on the 4th of July, nine years ago) my biggest shock was how early it got dark in the Summertime....for some reason I thought it would be more like the UK.