Don't get caught out! Clocks go forward this Sunday.
At 1am on Sunday 27th March 2011, British Summer Time begins and we set our clocks forward and hour, but why do we do it?
Although it was Benjamin Franklin who first proposed the idea of changing our clocks, the man ultimately responsible for British Summer Time is William Willett. He saw that much of the light on summer mornings was wasted, arguing that if we put the clocks forward it could be better utilised in the afternoon.
William campaigned the idea for years but it wasn't until World War One, in 1916, (a year after William's death) that the Government passed the 'Summer Time Act', introducing daylight saving time to the UK.
The Act proved successful, demand for coal reduced and a more effective working day was created.
Here in the UK we remain on British Summer Time from the last Sunday in March until the last Sunday in October.
And across Europe British Summer Time is observed everywhere except Iceland which remains on GMT all year round.
So, we lose an hour's sleep on Sunday night but it's a small price to pay for the lighter evenings we get to enjoy through the summer.
