The United Kingdom uses Greenwich Mean Time or Western European Time (UTC) and British Summer Time or Western European Summer Time (UTC+01:00).
The United Kingdom uses Greenwich Mean Time or Western European Time (UTC) and British Summer Time or Western European Summer Time (UTC+01:00).
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 a legal case 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.). GMT was adopted on the Isle of Man in 1883, Jersey in 1898 and Guernsey in 1913. Ireland adopted GMT in 1916, supplanting Dublin Mean Time. [4]
Daylight saving time was introduced by the Summer Time Act 1916 (6 & 7 Geo. V), 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. [4]
At the beginning of the 20th century, Sandringham Time (UTC+00:30) was used by the royal household. This practice was halted by King Edward VIII, in an effort to reduce confusions over time.
The United Kingdom experimentally adopted Central European Time by maintaining Summer Time throughout the year from 1968 to 1971. [5] 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, in which the outcome might have been influenced by a major accident on the morning of the debate. [6] Proposals to adopt CET have been raised by various politicians over the years, [5] [7] including a proposal in 2011 to conduct an analysis of the costs and benefits. [8]
The dates of British Summer Time are the subject of the Summer Time Act 1972. From 1972 to 1980, the day following the 3rd 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 4th Sunday 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. [9]
Since 1998 the start and end date are the same in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. [10] [11]
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. [12] The United Kingdom left the EU before this reform became effective; the UK is subsequently free to make its own arrangements. [13] [14] As of September 2018 [update] , the UK Government had "no plans" to end daylight saving. [15]
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." [16]
Authority over the time zone in Northern Ireland can be legislated by the Northern Ireland Assembly [17] 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.
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 | +513030−0000731 | Europe/London | +00:00 | +01:00 | |
| GI | +3608−00521 | Europe/Gibraltar | +01:00 | +02:00 | |
| GG | +492717−0023210 | Europe/Guernsey | +00:00 | +01:00 | |
| IM | +5409−00428 | Europe/Isle_of_Man | +00:00 | +01:00 | |
| JE | +491101−0020624 | Europe/Jersey | +00:00 | +01:00 | |
| AI | +1812−06304 | America/Anguilla | −04:00 | −04:00 | |
| MS | +1643−06213 | America/Montserrat | −04:00 | −04:00 | |
| TC | +2128−07108 | America/Grand_Turk | −05:00 | −04:00 | |
| AQ | −6734−06808 | Antarctica/Rothera | Rothera | −03:00 | −03:00 |
| BM | +3217−06446 | Atlantic/Bermuda | −04:00 | −03:00 | |
| GS | −5416−03632 | Atlantic/South_Georgia | −02:00 | −02:00 | |
| SH | −1555−00542 | Atlantic/St_Helena | +00:00 | +00:00 | |
| FK | −5142−05751 | Atlantic/Stanley | −03:00 | −03:00 | |
| IO | −0720+07225 | Indian/Chagos | +06:00 | +06:00 | |
| PN | −2504−13005 | Pacific/Pitcairn | −08:00 | −08:00 | |
| Standard time | Summer time (DST) | Area |
|---|---|---|
| UTC−08:00 | Pitcairn 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, Turks and Caicos Islands | |
| UTC−03:00 (FKST) | Falkland Islands | |
| UTC−02:00 | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | |
| UTC (GMT) | UTC+01:00 | United Kingdom (England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland), 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 | |
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, reckoned 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 precise time unless a context is given.
A time zone is a designated area of the globe that observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries of countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude because it is convenient for areas in close commercial or other communication to keep the same time. France, including its overseas territories, has the most time zones of any country, with a total of 12.
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:
The 24-hour clock, popularly referred to in the United States and some other countries as militarytime, is the convention of timekeeping in which the day runs from midnight to midnight and is divided into 24 hours. This is indicated by the hours passed since midnight, from 0 to 23. This system is the most commonly used time notation in the world today, and is used by the international standard ISO 8601.
Central European Time (CET), used in most parts of Europe and a few North African countries, is a standard time which is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00. The same standard time, UTC+01:00, is also known as Middle European Time and under other names like Berlin Time, Warsaw Time, Paris Time or Rome Time.
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.
Standard time is the synchronization of clocks within a geographical area or region to a single time standard, rather than using solar time or a locally chosen meridian (longitude) to establish a local mean time standard. Generally, standard time agrees with the local mean time at some meridian that passes through the region, often near the center of the region. Historically, the concept was established during the 19th century to aid weather forecasting and train travel. Applied globally in the 20th century, the geographical areas became extended around evenly spaced meridians into time zones which (usually) centered on them. The standard time set in each time zone has come to be defined in terms of offsets from Universal Time. In regions where daylight saving time is used, that time is defined by another offset, from the standard time in its applicable time zones.
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 many other parts of the world.
During British Summer Time (BST), civil time in the United Kingdom is advanced one hour forward of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), so that mornings have one hour less daylight, and evenings one hour more.
Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Western Standard Time, Australian Central Standard Time, and Australian Eastern Standard Time. Time is regulated by the individual state governments, some of which observe daylight saving time (DST). Australia's external territories observe different time zones.
Canada is divided into six time zones, based on proposals by Scottish Canadian railway engineer Sandford Fleming, who pioneered the use of the 24-hour clock, the world's time zone system, and a standard prime meridian. Most of Canada operates on standard time from the first Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March and daylight saving time the rest of the year.
Bangor railway station is a terminal railway station which serves the town of Bangor in County Down, Northern Ireland.
Malaysian Standard Time or Malaysian Time (MYT) is the standard time used in Malaysia. It is 8 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. The local mean time in Kuala Lumpur was originally GMT+06:46:46. Peninsular Malaysia used this local mean time until 1 January 1901, when they changed to Singapore mean time GMT+06:55:25. Between the end of the Second World War and the formation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963, it was known as British Malayan Standard Time, which was GMT+07:30. At 2330 hrs local time of 31 December 1981, people in Peninsular Malaysia adjusted their clocks and watches ahead by 30 minutes to become 00:00 hours local time of 1 January 1982, to match the time in use in East Malaysia, which is GMT+08:00. SGT (Singapore) followed on and uses the same until now.
UTC−00:25:21 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of −00:25:21.
Nautical time is a system devised to allow ships on high seas to express their local time. Nautical time zones are split into one hour intervals for every 15 degree change in a ship's longitudinal coordinate.
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.
Metropolitan France uses Central European Time and Central European Summer Time. Daylight saving time is observed in Metropolitan France 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.
Ireland uses Irish Standard Time in the summer months and Greenwich Mean Time in the winter period..
Spain has two time zones and observes daylight saving time. Spain mainly uses Central European Time (GMT+01:00) and Central European Summer Time (GMT+02:00) in Peninsular Spain, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta, Melilla and plazas de soberanía. In the Canary Islands, the time zone is Western European Time (GMT±00:00) and Western European Summer Time (GMT+01:00). Daylight saving time is observed from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October throughout Spain.
Winter time is the practice of shifting the clock back during winter months, usually −1 hour. It is a form of daylight saving time which is the opposite compensation to the summer time. However, while summer time is widely applied, use of winter time has been and is very rare.