Today is Saturday, 25th October and yes, unfortunately it’s that time of the year again – the clocks move backwards by an hour tonight! So, on the plus side you get an extra hour in bed but unfortunately it’ll be going darker, earlier this Sunday evening (something I’m not keen on).

The precise time of the hour change is actually 2.00 am on Sunday 26th but most people choose to change their clocks before they go to bed on Saturday night. Clock changes occur twice a year; we move forward an hour in spring at the end of March and then we move back an hour in autumn like we are tonight. One way to it remember is:

• clocks go forward an hour on the last Sunday in March
• clocks go backward an hour on the last Sunday in October

We’ve been doing this since 1972 when Britain decided to go with Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in winter, and British Summer Time (BST) in Summer. This article has more detail and the history behind British Summer Time

Here’s a list of some things with clocks that may need to be manually changed:

• watches
• alarm clocks
• car clocks
• cycle computers
• timers on central heating boilers
• some mobile phones
• some digital cameras
• some security alarms

…and some things that should update themselves:

• video recorders
• computers
• televisions
• the speaking clock
• humans (perhaps!)

And you know whatelse the hour change signifies don’t you? It’s only about 8 weeks to Christmas!