Summer might seem a distant memory but the end of British Summer Time is still to come
The clocks change in October
Summer 2026 has been a hot one with a string of heatwaves causing scorching temperatures, along with water shortages and wildfire breakouts. However, that all might seem a long time ago as the darker nights are hurtling in and the sun is already on course to be setting before 6pm in days.
The exact time of sunset depends on where you are in the UK. In Cardiff it is currently around 6.30pm while the further north you go the earlier it gets. In
This is going to be even earlier soon as British Summer Time draws to a close, marked by the clocks changing. In 2026 this is earlier than in many years. The clocks always change on the last Sunday in October – and this year that is almost a week before the end of the month.
In October the clocks “fall back” as they reset to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG) explained: “On the last Sunday of October in the UK, the clocks go back by one hour.
“It may feel like a long time since the blue skies of summer, but the moment when the clocks go back marks the end of British Summer Time (BST). Good news: it also means an extra hour in bed.
“An easy way to remember which way the clocks change is to think of the seasons: in spring the clocks ‘spring forward’, while in autumn they ‘fall back’.” It added: ” The clocks will go back in the UK on Sunday 25 October 2026 at 2am.”
So by October 24 – the day before the change – sunset will be at 6pm in Cardiff, 5.46pm in Newcastle, 5.50pm in Edinburgh and 6.09pm in Cornwall. But on October 25 this will be more than an hour earlier at 4.59pm in Cardiff, 4.44pm in Newcastle, 4.48pm in Edinburgh and 5.07pm in Cornwall.
Why do the clocks change?
The reason for the change is set in history. The RMG said: “A campaign at the beginning of the 20th century successfully argued in favour of changing the clocks during the summer months to avoid wasting time in the morning.”
The first idea of daylight saving time goes back to Benjamin Franklin in 1784, however it took until 1916 for the The Summer Time Act to be passed, ordaining that for a certain period during the year legal time should be one hour in advance of GMT. Double summer time (GMT + 2 hours) was used during the Second World War.
There are arguments still today over whether we should continue with the practice. Some of the arguments in favour of changing the clocks according to RMG include:
- reducing energy consumption for environmental reasons
- having longer evenings to support leisure and tourism
- encouraging people to exercise more outdoors
- reducing road accidents.
However, there are also arguments against daylight savings time and changing the clocks. It explained these included:
- The inconvenience of changing the clocks twice a year
- Safety concerns about darker mornings
- Some farmers have expressed concern about the effect of changing routines for livestock
- Some argue that changing the clocks is now redundant given that many of us spend most of our time in well-lit homes, shops and offices, where the amount of daylight makes little difference to our lives
- Similarly, the economic and environmental advantages can vary: for some warmer regions, it’s thought that longer evenings may actually increase energy consumption as people use air-conditioning units for more hours
RMG added: “It’s an ongoing debate that strongly depends on people’s geographical location, occupation and lifestyle.”
