Time for Summer?

Last night the clocks went forward an hour so we are now on Irish Summer Time (GMT+1, the same as BST). Among other things, this means that for the next seven months or so the clock on my oven will actually be set correctly…

One of the more sensible decisions made by the European Parliament some years ago was to approve a directive that will abolish `Daylight Saving Time’. I’ve long felt that the annual ritual of putting the clocks forward in the Spring and back again in the Autumn was a waste of time effort, so I’ll be glad when this silly practice is terminated. It would be better in my view to stick with a single Mean Time throughout the year. This was supposed to happen in 2021 but was delayed by the pandemic and still hasn’t happened.

The marvellous poster above is from 1916, when British Summer Time was introduced, though it ran for only about 4 months (May to September), rather than the seven we have now (March to October).

You might be surprised to learn that the practice of changing clocks backwards and forwards is only about a hundred years old. in the United Kingdom. To be honest I’m also surprised that the practice persists to this day, as I can’t see any real advantage in it. Any institution or organization that really wants to change its working hours in summer can easily do so, but the world of work is far more flexible nowadays than it was a hundred years ago and I think few would feel the need.

Anyway, while I am on about Mean Time, here is a another poster from 1916.

Until October 1916, clocks in Ireland were set to Dublin Mean Time, as defined at Dunsink Observatory, rather than Mean Time as defined at Greenwich. The adoption of GMT in Ireland was driven largely by the fact that the British authorities found that the time difference between Dublin and London had confused telegraphic communications during the Easter Rising earlier in 1916. Its imposition was therefore, at least in part, intended to bring Ireland under closer control of Britain. Needless to say, this did not go down well with Irish nationalists.

Ireland had not moved to Summer Time with Britain in May 1916 and was still on Dublin Mean Time, which was 25 minutes 21 seconds behind GMT, so the change to GMT was introduced at the same time as BST ended in the UK, hence the alteration by one hour minus 25 minutes 21 seconds, i.e. 34 minutes and 39 seconds as in the poster.

Agi: Torna l'ora legale: domenica si dorme un'ora in meno

AGI - Sarà una domenica all'insegna della sveglia anticipata: torna infatti l'ora legale, nella notte tra sabato 28 e domenica 29 marzo. Alle due del mattino di domenica scatterà lo spostamento delle lancette degli orologi, che dovranno essere regolati un'ora avanti, e conseguentemente si dormirà un'ora di meno. Si tornerà all'ora solare domenica 26 ottobre.
Un'ora di sonno in meno, dunque, ma un'ora di luce in più la sera: domenica, ad esempio, il sole tramonterà "astronomicamente" attorno alle 18.30, ma grazie all'ora legale gli orologi segneranno le 19.30. Ora di luce in più che comporterà tra l'altro notevoli risparmi energetici: il ritorno all'ora legale - stima Terna, la società che gestisce la rete elettrica di trasmissione nazionale - comporterà un risparmio di circa 80 milioni di euro, grazie a un minor consumo di energia elettrica di circa 302 milioni di kWh, che equivalgono al fabbisogno medio annuo di 115 mila famiglie.
Chi la utilizza
Quasi tutti i paesi industrializzati si sono dati una regola: nell'emisfero boreale il regime di ora legale inizia l'ultima domenica di marzo, mentre nell'emisfero sud (australe) la stessa data ne sancisce il termine. Dalla scelta dei paesi industrializzati si discosta il Giappone che segue, nell'alternarsi delle stagioni, sempre e comunque l'ora solare. Disinteressati all'adozione dell'ora legale la maggior parte dei paesi dell'Africa e dell'Asia. In ogni caso, lo spostamento di un'ora comporterà solo qualche giorno di adattamento al nuovo "fuso orario", con il classico effetto "jet lag" che per i primi tempi potrebbe creare qualche problema con il rapporto sonno-veglia.
Mentre domenica come ogni anno ci si dovrà industriare a modificare l'orario di tutti gli orologi di casa e in auto, anche se ormai nell'era digitale tutti i dispositivi (telefonini, tablet e quant'altro) si aggiornano automaticamente, avendo già memorizzato il calendario con il cambiamento d'orario.

Summer Time Returns: Sunday we sleep an hour less.

It will be a Sunday of early awakenings: the summer time returns, specifically, on the night between Saturday, March 28th and Sunday, March 29th. At 2:00 AM on Sunday, the hour hands of the clocks will shift, which will need to be adjusted one hour forward, and consequently, we will sleep one hour less. We will return to Greenwich Mean Time on October 26th.

Therefore, one hour less of sleep, but one hour more of daylight in the evening: on Sunday, for example, the sun will set “astronomically” around 6:30 PM, but thanks to summer time, the clocks will show 7:30 PM. This extra hour of daylight will also entail significant energy savings: according to Terna, the company that manages Italy's national electricity transmission network, the return to summer time will result in a saving of approximately €80 million, thanks to a reduction in electricity consumption of approximately 302 million kWh, which is equivalent to the average annual needs of 115,000 families.

Who Uses It

Almost all industrialized countries have established a rule: in the northern hemisphere, the summer time regime begins on the last Sunday of March, while in the southern hemisphere (austral hemisphere), the same date marks its end. This deviates from the choice of industrialized countries, as Japan always follows Greenwich Mean Time, following the seasons. Most countries in Africa and Asia are uninterested in adopting summer time. In any case, shifting the time by one hour will only require a few days to adapt to the new “time zone”, with the classic “jet lag” effect potentially causing some problems with the sleep-wake cycle for the first few times.

While on Sunday, as every year, we will have to take the effort to modify the time on all household and car clocks, even though in the digital age all devices (mobile phones, tablets, and so on) automatically update, having already stored the calendar with the time change.

#Terna #Italy #Japan #GreenwichMeanTime #Africa #first

https://www.agi.it/cronaca/news/2026-03-26/ora-legale-sabato-ora-in-meno-36313773/

Clocks Back 1 Hour

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://theorkneynews.scot/2025/10/26/clocks-back-1-hour-3/

[01:00] Possible new Irish time zone to be discussed at forum

The potential replacement of Greenwich Mean Time with a domestic Irish equivalent will be among the topics discussed at a forum in Dublin.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2025/0211/1495874-forum-to-discuss-possible-new-time-zone-for-ireland/

#GreenwichMeanTime #Irish #Dublin