While our seasons continue to be a little chaotic, we are now technically into autumn and the days are about to get a little colder and a little darker.
I know, I feel like Glastonbury just happened, too, but as the year has sped on by, we’re now moving into the final months of 2024 and firmly preparing ourselves for cold weather.
Of course, with this comes clock changes and every autumn, our clocks go back an hour, urging in those darker mornings and evenings.
When do the clocks go back in 2024?
Fortunately, we have just over a month left of our brighter mornings and the clocks go back an hour on 27 October 2024.
You shouldn’t need to change settings on your smartphone or computer, as these update automatically, but if you have any analogue clocks at home, or a watch, you may want to set a reminder to push them back an hour that day.
Why do the clocks change?
According to the BBC: “An American politician and inventor called Benjamin Franklin first came up with the idea while in Paris in 1784.
“He suggested that if people got up earlier, when it was lighter, then it would save on candles.”
Which does make sense.
However, it became custom in the UK thanks to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin’s great-great-grandfather, William Willett.
In 1907, he published a leaflet called The Waste of Daylight, encouraging people to get out of bed earlier. The government did discuss it back-and-forth the following year, but many people opposed it.
It wasn’t until 1916, a year after Willet died, that it was finally implemented in the UK.