Did the clocks change last night – and did they go forward or backwards?

Is your bedside clock telling the right time? (Picture: Getty Images)

The days are getting warmer, Spring is here, and with the end of March approaching, surely British Summer Time must be soon?

Festivals, holidays and long summer days beckon, along with gardening and nights out under sunset skies.

So when do the clocks change, do they go forwards or back, and did they change last night?

Are you about to be late or early?

Here’s what you need to know.

Did the clocks change last night?

Lighter evenings are incoming (Picture: Getty Images)

The clocks did change last night (to be exact, at 1am on Sunday, March 26, 2023).

So yes, it’s time to grapple with all those unhelpful clocks that didn’t automatically change – oven and car, we’re looking at you.

British Summer Time (BST) always starts at 1am on the last Sunday in March.

The idea was put forward in 1907 in Britain by builder William Willett, who was angry at the ‘waste of daylight’ during summer mornings, and was adopted by the UK in 1916, during the First World War.

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Did the clocks go forwards or back?

The clocks went forwards at 1am this morning (Sunday, March 26, 2023).

According to Royal Museums Greenwich, ‘although this change has no effect on the length of each day, sunrise and sunset each appear an hour later in the summer’.

So lighter evenings start right now!

The bad news, however, is you’ve lost an hour in bed. Unless you’re not working today of course, in which case you can just have a long lie in.

If you feel a bit jet-lagged and struggle to sleep after the clocks change, check out these helpful tips.

How long is British Summer Time?

Dust off those sunglasses and beach bags, summer is on its way (Credits: Getty Images)

We’ll stay on British Summer Time until October 29, 2023 at 2am – that’s when the clocks go back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Yes, it makes the evenings darker, but that’s when you can catch up on that extra hour in bed!

MORE : One in six people can’t tell the time on a normal clock

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