Time in the United Kingdom

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Time in Europe: Light Blue Western European Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC) Blue Western European Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC) Western European Summer Time / British Summer Time / Irish Standard Time (UTC+1) Red Central European Time (UTC+1) Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) Yellow Eastern European Time / Kaliningrad Time (UTC+2) Ochre Eastern European Time (UTC+2) Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3) Green Moscow Time / Turkey Time (UTC+3) Turquoise Armenia Time / Azerbaijan Time / Georgia Time / Samara Time (UTC+4) #### Pale colours: Standard time observed all year ### Dark colours: Summer time observed Time zones of Europe, incl. Transcaucasia.svg
Time in Europe:
Light Blue Western European Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC)
Blue Western European Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC)
Western European Summer Time / British Summer Time / Irish Standard Time (UTC+1)
Red Central European Time (UTC+1)
Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)
Yellow Eastern European Time / Kaliningrad Time (UTC+2)
Ochre Eastern European Time (UTC+2)
Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)
Green Moscow Time / Turkey Time (UTC+3)
Turquoise Armenia Time / Azerbaijan Time / Georgia Time / Samara Time (UTC+4)
▉▉▉▉ Pale colours: Standard time observed all year
▉▉▉ Dark colours: Summer time observed

The United Kingdom uses Greenwich Mean Time (also known as Western European Time or UTC) and British Summer Time (UTC+01:00) (also known as Western European Summer Time). The latter applies between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October.

Contents

History

Until the advent of the railways, the United Kingdom used local mean time. Greenwich Mean Time was adopted first by the Great Western Railway in 1840 and a few others followed suit in the following years. In 1847 it was adopted by the Railway Clearing House, and by almost all railway companies by the following year. It was from this initiative that the term "railway time" was derived.

It was gradually adopted for other purposes, but the legal case of Curtis v March in 1858 held "local mean time" to be the official time. [1] On 14 May 1880, a letter signed by 'Clerk to Justices' appeared in The Times, stating that 'Greenwich time is now kept almost throughout England, but it appears that Greenwich time is not legal time. [2] [3] This was changed later in 1880, when Greenwich Mean Time was legally adopted throughout the island of Great Britain under the Statutes (Definition of Time) Act 1880 (43 & 44 Vict. c. 9). GMT was adopted on the Isle of Man on 30 March 1883, [4] Jersey in 1898, and Guernsey in 1913. Ireland adopted GMT in 1916, supplanting Dublin Mean Time. [5]

Summer Time Act 1916
Act of Parliament
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (1901-1952).svg
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Citation 6 & 7 Geo. 5. c. 14
Status: Current legislation
Summer Time Act 1922
Act of Parliament
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (1901-1952).svg
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title An Act to provide for the time in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man being in advance of Greenwich mean time during a certain period of the year.
Citation 12 & 13 Geo. 5. c. 22
Dates
Royal assent 20 July 1922
Other legislation
Repealed by Summer Time Act 1972
Status: Repealed

Daylight saving time was introduced by the Summer Time Act 1916 (6 & 7 Geo. 5. c. 14), which was implemented in 1916 as GMT plus one hour and Dublin Mean Time plus one hour. The length of DST could be extended by Order in Council, and was extended for the duration of World War I. For 1916, DST extended from 21 May to 1 October, with transitions at 02:00 standard time. On 1 October 1916, Greenwich Mean Time was introduced to Ireland. [5]

At the beginning of the 20th century, Sandringham Time (UTC+00:30) was used by the royal household. This practice was abolished by King Edward VIII in an effort to reduce confusions over time.

Summer Time Act 1947
Act of Parliament
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (1901-1952).svg
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title An Act to amend the Summer Time Acts, 1922 and 1925.
Citation 10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 16
Dates
Royal assent 11 March 1947
Other legislation
Amends
  • Summer Time Act 1922
  • Summer Time Act 1925
Repealed by Summer Time Act 1972
Status: Repealed

In the summers of 1941 to 1945, during the Second World War, Britain was two hours ahead of GMT and operating on British Double Summer Time (BDST). To bring this about, the clocks were not put back by an hour at the end of summer in 1940 (BST having started early, on 25 February 1940). In subsequent years, clocks continued to be advanced by one hour each spring (to BDST) and put back by an hour each autumn (to BST). On 15 July 1945, the clocks were put back by an hour, so BDST reverted to BST; the clocks were put back by an additional hour on 7 October 1945, so BST reverted to GMT for the winter of 1945. [6]

The United Kingdom experimentally adopted Central European Time by maintaining Summer Time throughout the year from 1968 to 1971. [7] In a House of Lords debate, Richard Butler, 17th Viscount Mountgarret said that the change was welcomed at the time, but the experiment was eventually halted after a debate in 1971, [8] in which the outcome might have been influenced by a major accident on the morning of the debate. [9] Proposals to adopt CET have been raised by various politicians over the years, [7] [10] including a proposal in 2011 to conduct an analysis of the costs and benefits. [11]

Summer Time Act 1972
Act of Parliament
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (variant 1, 1952-2022).svg
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title An Act to consolidate the enactments relating to summer time.
Citation 1972 c. 6
Dates
Royal assent 10 February 1972
Commencement 10 March 1972
Other legislation
Repeals/revokes
Text of the Summer Time Act 1972 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The dates of British Summer Time are the subject of the Summer Time Act 1972 (c. 6). From 1972 to 1980, the day following the third Saturday in March was the start of British Summer Time (unless that day was Easter Sunday, in which case BST began a week earlier), with the day following the fourth Saturday in October being the end of British Summer Time. From 1981 to 2001, the dates were set in line with various European Directives. Since 2002 the Act has specified the last Sunday in March as the start of British Summer Time with the last Sunday in October being end of British Summer Time. [12]

Since 1998 the start and end date are the same in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. [13] [14]

Future

A proposal to repeal European Directive 2000/84/EC and require that member states observe their own choice of time year-round was initiated in September 2018. [15] The United Kingdom left the EU before this reform became effective; the UK is subsequently free to make its own arrangements. [16] [17] As of September 2018, the UK Government had "no plans" to end daylight saving. [18]

In July 2019, the House of Lords EU Internal Market Sub-Committee launched a new inquiry into the implications for the UK of the European changes, to "explore what preparations the Government needs to make and what factors should inform the UK's response." [19]

Decentralisation

Authority over the time zone in Northern Ireland can be legislated by the Northern Ireland Assembly [20] but the power has never been used, as the Republic has followed the UK. In Scotland and Wales, time zone is a reserved matter, meaning that only the Parliament of the United Kingdom has power to legislate.

IANA time zone database

The IANA time zone database contains one zone for the United Kingdom in the file zone.tab, named Europe/London.

This refers to the area having the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code "GB". The zone names Europe/Guernsey, Europe/Isle_of_Man and Europe/Jersey exist because they have their own ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 but the zone.tab entries are links to Europe/London. There are several entries for UK possessions around the world.

Data directly from zone.tab of the IANA time zone database. Columns marked with * are the columns from zone.tab itself.

c.c.*Coordinates*TZ*Comments* UTC offset UTC DST offset
GB +513030−0000731Europe/London +00:00 +01:00
GI +3608−00521Europe/Gibraltar +01:00 +02:00
GG +492717−0023210Europe/Guernsey +00:00 +01:00
IM +5409−00428Europe/Isle_of_Man +00:00 +01:00
JE +491101−0020624Europe/Jersey +00:00 +01:00
AI +1812−06304America/Anguilla −04:00 −04:00
MS +1643−06213America/Montserrat −04:00 −04:00
TC +2128−07108America/Grand_Turk −05:00 −04:00
AQ −6734−06808Antarctica/RotheraRothera −03:00 −03:00
BM +3217−06446Atlantic/Bermuda −04:00 −03:00
GS −5416−03632Atlantic/South_Georgia −02:00 −02:00
SH −1555−00542Atlantic/St_Helena +00:00 +00:00
FK −5142−05751Atlantic/Stanley −03:00 −03:00
IO −0720+07225Indian/Chagos +06:00 +06:00
PN −2504−13005Pacific/Pitcairn −08:00 −08:00

British territories

Standard timeSummer time
(DST)		Area
UTC−08:00 Pitcairn Islands
UTC−05:00 (EST) UTC−04:00 Turks and Caicos Islands
UTC−05:00 Cayman Islands
UTC−04:00 (AST) UTC−03:00 Bermuda
UTC−04:00 (AST, DST never observed) Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat
UTC−03:00 (FKST) Falkland Islands, British Antarctic Territory
UTC−02:00 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
UTC (GMT) UTC+01:00 United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales), Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey
UTC (GMT, DST never observed) Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
UTC+01:00 (CET) UTC+02:00 Gibraltar
UTC+02:00 (EET) UTC+03:00 Akrotiri and Dhekelia
UTC+06:00 British Indian Ocean Territory

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwich Mean Time</span> Time zone of Western Europe, same as WET

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a consequence, it cannot be used to specify a particular time unless a context is given. The term "GMT" is also used as one of the names for the time zone UTC+00:00 and, in UK law, is the basis for civil time in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time zone</span> Area that observes a uniform standard time

A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it is convenient for areas in frequent communication to keep the same time.

Universal Time is a time standard based on Earth's rotation. While originally it was mean solar time at 0° longitude, precise measurements of the Sun are difficult. Therefore, UT1 is computed from a measure of the Earth's angle with respect to the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF), called the Earth Rotation Angle. UT1 is the same everywhere on Earth. UT1 is required to follow the relationship

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western European Summer Time</span> Time zone (UTC+01:00)

Western European Summer Time is a summer daylight saving time scheme, 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time and Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central European Time</span> Standard time (UTC+01:00)

Central European Time (CET) is a standard time of Central, and parts of Western Europe, which is one hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00. It is used in most parts of Europe and in a few North African countries. CET is also known as Middle European Time and by colloquial names such as Amsterdam Time, Berlin Time, Brussels Time, Budapest Time, Madrid Time, Paris Time, Rome Time, Prague time, Warsaw Time or Romance Standard Time (RST).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western European Time</span> Time zone in Europe equal to UTC

Western European Time is a time zone covering parts of western Europe and consists of countries using UTC+00:00. It is one of the three standard time zones in the European Union along with Central European Time and Eastern European Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer time in Europe</span> Variation of standard clock time

Summer time in Europe is the variation of standard clock time that is applied in most European countries in the period between spring and autumn, during which clocks are advanced by one hour from the time observed in the rest of the year, with a view to making the most efficient use of seasonal daylight. It corresponds to the notion and practice of daylight saving time (DST) to be found in some other parts of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Summer Time</span> Identifier for a time offset from UTC of +1

During British Summer Time (BST), civil time in the United Kingdom is advanced one hour forward of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), in effect changing the time zone from UTC+00:00 to UTC+01:00, so that mornings have one hour less daylight, and evenings one hour more.

Malaysian Standard Time or Malaysian Time (MYT) is the standard time used in Malaysia. It is 8 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Malaysia does not observe daylight saving time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UTC+00:00</span> Identifier for the UTC +0 offset

UTC+00:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +00:00. This time zone is the basis of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and all other time zones are based on it. In ISO 8601, an example of the associated time would be written as 2069-01-01T12:12:34+00:00. It is also known by the following geographical or historical names:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UTC−00:25:21</span> Former time zone in Ireland (1880–1916)

UTC−00:25:21 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of −00:25:21, i.e. twenty-five minutes and twenty-one seconds behind Greenwich Mean Time. This time, known as Dublin Mean Time, is local mean time at Dunsink Observatory and was official time in Ireland between 1880 and 1916.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Railway time</span> Time scale for rail transport

Railway time was the standardised time arrangement first applied by the Great Western Railway in England in November 1840, the first recorded occasion when different local mean times were synchronised and a single standard time applied. The key goals behind introducing railway time were to overcome the confusion caused by having non-uniform local times in each town and station stop along the expanding railway network and to reduce the incidence of accidents and near misses, which were becoming more frequent as the number of train journeys increased.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statutes (Definition of Time) Act 1880</span> Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Statutes Act 1880 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that legally adopted Greenwich Mean Time throughout the island of Great Britain and Dublin Mean Time throughout Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in France</span>

Metropolitan France uses Central European Time as its standard time, and observes Central European Summer Time from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. With its overseas territories, France uses 12 different time zones, more than any other country in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in the Republic of Ireland</span>

Ireland uses Irish Standard Time in the summer months and Greenwich Mean Time in the winter period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in Portugal</span>

Portugal has two time zones and observes daylight saving time. Continental Portugal and Madeira use UTC+00:00, while the Azores use UTC–01:00. Daylight saving time is observed nationwide from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, when continental Portugal and Madeira advance one hour to UTC+01:00, and the Azores advances one hour to UTC+00:00.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in the Danish Realm</span>

Denmark, including its dependencies of Faroe Islands and Greenland, uses six time zones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winter time (clock lag)</span> Aspect of daylight saving time

Winter time is the practice of shifting the clock behind the standard time during winter months, usually −1 hour. It is a form of daylight saving time in which standard time is in effect during summer months, rather than the usual case where standard time is in effect during winter months. However, while summer time is widely applied, use of winter time has been and is very rare.

Time in the Kingdom of the Netherlands is denoted by Central European Time during the winter as standard time in the Netherlands, which is one hour ahead of coordinated universal time (UTC+01:00), and Central European Summer Time (CEST) during the summer as daylight saving time, which is two hours ahead of coordinated universal time (UTC+02:00). The Caribbean Netherlands – which consist of the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba – all observe Atlantic Standard Time (AST) year-round, which is four hours behind coordinated universal time (UTC−04:00).

Oxford time is the custom of having scheduled events occur five minutes past the specified time. It is a peculiar tradition of timekeeping in Oxford, especially in connection with the University of Oxford.

References

  1. ↑ Howse 1997, p. 114
  2. ↑ CLERK TO JUSTICES. "Time, Actual And Legal". Times, London, England, 14 May 1880: 10. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 18 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Bartky, Ian R. (2007). One Time Fits All: The Campaigns for Global Uniformity. Stanford University Press. p. 134. ISBN   978-0804756426.
  4. ↑ "The Statutory Time et cetera Act 1883" (PDF).
  5. 1 2 Myers, J. (5 October 2008). "History of legal time in Britain" . Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  6. ↑ Thorsen, Steffen. "Time Zone & Clock Changes 1925-1949 in London, England, United Kingdom". timeanddate.com. Time and Date AS. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  7. 1 2 "Fresh attempt to change UK time". BBC News. 25 January 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  8. ↑ "Summer Time Bill Hl Volume 325: debated on Tuesday 9 November 1971". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 9 December 1971. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  9. ↑ "Central European Time Bill [H.L.] HL Deb 11 January 1995 vol 560 cc243-84". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 1995. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  10. ↑ "Tundra time call in clocks debate". BBC News. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  11. ↑ "Plan to bring UK clocks forward". BBC News. 20 February 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  12. ↑ "Summer Time Act 1972". The National Archives.
  13. ↑ Joseph Myers (21 January 2007). "History of legal time in Britain" . Retrieved 24 March 2007.
  14. ↑ "Directive 2000/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 January 2001 on summer time arrangement". 19 January 2001.
  15. ↑ "Euro MPs vote to end summer time clock changes". BBC News. 26 March 2019.
  16. ↑ Campbell, John (2 October 2018). "Dublin and Belfast in separate time zones?". BBC News. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  17. ↑ "House of Lords - Subsidiarity Assessment:discontinuing seasonal changes of time - European Union Committee". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  18. ↑ "Northern Ireland won't change time zone to suit the EU, say unionists". Belfast Telegraph.
  19. ↑ "Implications of ending clock changes investigated in new inquiry - News from Parliament". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  20. ↑ The Role of the Advocate General and its constitutional context, Office of the Advocate General of Scotland, speech delivered 18 March 2011, retrieved 1 January 2014, "For example, the Northern Ireland Assembly has the legislative competence to deal with time zones."
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