Don't forget to turn the clocks back (From Bucks Free Press)

Don't forget to turn the clocks back

4:00pm Saturday 27th October 2007 in Search By Lara King

IT MAY feel as though it never really began this year, but Britain's summertime officially ends tonight.

Remember to adjust your watch and reset your alarm clock before you go to bed. At 2am, the clocks go back one hour, as the country abandons British Summer Time (BST) for Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

The tradition of daylight saving measures can be traced back to ancient Rome, but you can thank British builder William Willett for your extra hour in bed this weekend. He first came up with the idea of changing the clocks in 1905.

He was out riding his horse one summer morning near his home in Petts Wood, Kent, when he noticed how many people's curtains were drawn as they slept through the sunniest part of the morning. As a golf-lover, he also disliked his round being cut short at dusk.

To solve these problems, William suggested that the population's health and happiness would be improved by putting the clocks forward by twenty minutes every Sunday in April, and doing the opposite in September.

However, Daylight Saving Time was not actually introduced until 1916, when the First World War made the issue more important because of the need to save the coal used in energy production. On Sunday, May 21, 1916, Britain's clocks were advanced by an hour for the first time.

Many countries abandoned similar measures after the war ended, but Britain has stayed faithful to the tradition, with our clocks still springing forward and falling back twice a year.

Although daylight saving measure reportedly cut traffic accidents by making our journeys to work brighter, there is traditionally an increase in burglaries as the afternoons get darker, so it is wise to invest in timed lights and security measures to keep your home safe.