It may have stretched out a little later this year (25 degrees in October is NOT normal), but a look at the weather forecast now confirms it: summer is officially over. Prepare for cold mornings, cold evenings, and well, cold everything as autumn arrives and rolls into winter.
The change in temperature is an obvious signifier of the end of sunny pub gardens, jugs of Pimms and BBQs, but the official end of British Summer Time actually occurs when the clocks shift back an hour. Changing the clocks has been a bi-annual practice since the Summer Time Act was introduced in 1916, and it aims to give all of us as much access to sunlight exposure across the year as possible.
As there’s less sunlight up for grabs in winter (PSA: get those vitamin D lamps turned on!), moving the clocks back gives us more opportunity to see the light of day – and thank god. But when does everything kick off this year?
When does summer end?
This year, the clocks will turn back on Sunday, 29 October. So when it gets to 2am, the clocks will jump back to 1am. Hopefully, you’ll feel a little more rested (and less prone to Sunday scaries) when you wake up with that extra hour in bed. They won’t change again until they move forward an hour on Sunday, 31 March 2024, marking the return of British Summer Time once again.
Put your heavier duvets on, wrap up, and make the yearly switch from your iced coffee to your extra, extra hot Americano – because the end of summer is looming. RIP.