It may seem a long way off now, especially when the weather is cold and the evenings are dark, but BST (British Summer Time) is in sight. On Sunday 27th March 2022, the clocks go forward 1 hour at 1am, there’s more daylight in the evenings and less in the mornings. Usually, this time of year lifts the spirits of most people, who are looking forward to a mild spring, spending more time outdoors and perhaps a warm summer.

British Summer Time was first established by the Summer Time Act 1916. William Willett - an early promoter of British Summer Time and great-great-grandfather of Coldplay singer Chris Martin - published a pamphlet in 1907 titled ‘The Waste of Daylight’, which suggested changing the clocks in the spring and putting them back in the autumn. However, Willett’s proposal was complicated, involving advancing the clocks by 80 minutes. in four separate moves of 20 minutes each. Willett died in 1915, a year later Parliament passed the Summer Time Act, which established the practice of putting the clocks an hour forward during the summer.