When do countries change their clocks

Europe , Oct Patrick Rhys Atack. The U. So how does it work, and why isn't it universal? World War II also had a big effect on the European daylight saving efforts. Once Nazi occupation ended, many countries in Europe went back to their original timings. Scroll through this photo gallery using the arrows on the left and right.

The astronomical clock face in Prague. Crisis leads to change But it was another global event in the s that led to the reintroduction of Daylight Saving Time across mainland Europe UK and Ireland did not stop changing clocks in the meantime. Home Menu. When do the clocks change and why? Getty Images. Oops you can't see this activity! Why do we change the clocks? Benjamin Franklin, who first came up with the idea of moving the clocks according to daylight.

Coldplay singer Chris Martin's great-great-grandfather is responsible for introducing the idea of moving the clocks in the UK. When did we start changing our clocks? William Willett used to get cross when it got too dark for him to carry on playing golf. William Willett unfortunately died before he could see his idea introduced.

Find out more ». Share this article via facebook Share this article via twitter Share this article via messenger Share this with Share this article via email Share this article via flipboard Copy link. Share this article via comment Share this article via facebook Share this article via twitter. More Stories. Today's Best Discounts. While the retail and tourism industries do benefit from the extra hour of summer evening daylight, that may well be offset by some of the health effects mentioned above.

The farming industry has traditionally disliked DST for its impact on everything from milking cows to reaping harvests. But an NFU spokesman painted a more nuanced picture.

The aviation sector is little affected. Plane schedules have to work around the issue of countries changing clocks at different times. Peak driving times are between 8am and 10am in the morning between 3pm and 7pm in the afternoon.

When the clocks move back in autumn, it means that the majority of these peak hours in the afternoon are in darkness. More accidents happen for a whole variety of reasons in the afternoon peak than in the morning peak, and studies have suggested that putting the clocks back in the autumn might increase accident numbers.

For this reason, Rospa the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents proposed that Britain retain daylight saving all year round, arguing that darker mornings were marginally more preferable to darker evenings. The survey shows interesting regional differences.

Scotland heavily favours the status quo, as switching to DST all year round would result in sunrise after 10am in some parts. About 70 countries observe daylight saving time. Most countries around the equator do not, as there is little variation in daylight across the year. Most Islamic countries do not use daylight saving time as during Ramadan it can mean that the evening dinner is delayed till later in the day.