Your views on altering daylight hours
Poll: Your views on altering daylight hours
Total Members Polled: 248
Discussion
rs1952 said:
JagLover said:
Our natural day, determined by our place on the world's surface is GMT. We should stick with that all year around without BST.
Instead every year when we revert back to it, people whinge about less light in the evenings. What about light in the morning?, when many people need to either work, or get to work.
What our "natural day" is, and what most people call a "natural day," are two different things.Instead every year when we revert back to it, people whinge about less light in the evenings. What about light in the morning?, when many people need to either work, or get to work.
Most of the population are in bed for some, perhaps small, part of the time when it is light out (except in the deepest depths of winter), then stay up well after it gets dark (except perhaps in the hight of summer for a very small few)
I agree that it would appear odd for the "home" of GMT to be permanently on GMT+1, it would better suit the majority of the population.
As for the whingeing Scottish farmers, if they want their own time zone, let 'em go for it. Or alternatively just take no notice of the clock on the wall and more notice of the body clocks of their animals
The fading light is one of the signals to the body that it is time to go to sleep. Artificially changing the clock to make it more light in the evenings will increase problems with lack of sleep.
JagLover said:
rs1952 said:
JagLover said:
Our natural day, determined by our place on the world's surface is GMT. We should stick with that all year around without BST.
Instead every year when we revert back to it, people whinge about less light in the evenings. What about light in the morning?, when many people need to either work, or get to work.
What our "natural day" is, and what most people call a "natural day," are two different things.Instead every year when we revert back to it, people whinge about less light in the evenings. What about light in the morning?, when many people need to either work, or get to work.
Most of the population are in bed for some, perhaps small, part of the time when it is light out (except in the deepest depths of winter), then stay up well after it gets dark (except perhaps in the hight of summer for a very small few)
I agree that it would appear odd for the "home" of GMT to be permanently on GMT+1, it would better suit the majority of the population.
As for the whingeing Scottish farmers, if they want their own time zone, let 'em go for it. Or alternatively just take no notice of the clock on the wall and more notice of the body clocks of their animals
The fading light is one of the signals to the body that it is time to go to sleep. Artificially changing the clock to make it more light in the evenings will increase problems with lack of sleep.
Unless you;re planning on doing some sort of 13 hour sleepathon, or your mum puts you to bed at 630pm, I can't really see how shifting things about to give us a bit more light in thje evening is detrimental.
I think it's absurd for the country which gave the world its time zones to even contemplate moving to a different one!
If you want an extra hour of light after work, then just change the standard working day from 9-5 to 8-4 or whatever.
We've tried it before and gave up as we didn't like it, and Portugal have tried it twice and also given up.
If you want an extra hour of light after work, then just change the standard working day from 9-5 to 8-4 or whatever.
We've tried it before and gave up as we didn't like it, and Portugal have tried it twice and also given up.
Digga said:
We at this time of the year - which I think forms the crux of the argument - it's only light about 0730 and gets dark around 7pm. So we have less than 12 hours of daylight. (And of course from here until midwinter it gets worse.)
Unless you;re planning on doing some sort of 13 hour sleepathon, or your mum puts you to bed at 630pm, I can't really see how shifting things about to give us a bit more light in thje evening is detrimental.
Because it wouldn't get light until 8-8.30am. Whereas after 7 in the evening I'm mostly indoors anyway.Unless you;re planning on doing some sort of 13 hour sleepathon, or your mum puts you to bed at 630pm, I can't really see how shifting things about to give us a bit more light in thje evening is detrimental.
It's dark here (Glasgow) at 6:00 at night just now, so I've been going home in the dark for weeks. I don't really want to be going to work in the dark for the next 4 or so months! With the clock the way it is, it's only dark at both ends of the day for about a month I reckon. If this was applied anywhere north of Perth, you'd have kids going to school in the mornings in the pitch black for months over the winter, rather than the few weeks it is at the moment. Generally kids go home in some sort of daylight even in the depths of winter, so extending light at the end of the day probably won't make too much difference.
Kermit power said:
I think it's absurd for the country which gave the world its time zones to even contemplate moving to a different one!
You obviously don't talk to forgeigners much. Or if you do they're all 'market's people who know when the FTSE, NYSE etc. start.Never ceases to amaze me how they never (not even remotely) equate GMT to bing the time in the UK. "What time is it in England then?"
No one gives a f
k about the fact that the UK once had an empire.Edited by Digga on Friday 29th October 16:44
alangla said:
It's dark here (Glasgow) at 6:00 at night just now, so I've been going home in the dark for weeks. I don't really want to be going to work in the dark for the next 4 or so months! With the clock the way it is, it's only dark at both ends of the day for about a month I reckon. If this was applied anywhere north of Perth, you'd have kids going to school in the mornings in the pitch black for months over the winter, rather than the few weeks it is at the moment. Generally kids go home in some sort of daylight even in the depths of winter, so extending light at the end of the day probably won't make too much difference.
The "Scottish Argument" (and they have been the most vociferous)against changing the UK's time zone just does not hold up. Glasgow, or Scotland is where it is and nothing can change that. Being part of the UK does not insulate Scotland from the effects of geography. On the whole, having lighter nights is preferable to the majority of the population, plus all the indirect benefits.Digga said:
Kermit power said:
I think it's absurd for the country which gave the world its time zones to even contemplate moving to a different one!
You obviously don;t talk to forgeigners much.Never ceases to amaze me how they never (not even remotely) equate GMT to bing the time in the UK. "What time is it in England then?" :banghead"
No one give a f
k about the fact that the UK once had an empire.That, however, is completely irrelevant, as is the thought that it has anything to do with whether we had an empire. The establishment of GMT, lines of longitude and timezones running from it are down to maritime timekeeping in the first place, and subsequently to the synchronisation of railway timetables.
Mind you, if it makes you feel better to be able to bleat about the fact that we no longer have an empire, you crack on.
Kermit power said:
Digga said:
Kermit power said:
I think it's absurd for the country which gave the world its time zones to even contemplate moving to a different one!
You obviously don;t talk to forgeigners much.Never ceases to amaze me how they never (not even remotely) equate GMT to bing the time in the UK. "What time is it in England then?" :banghead"
No one give a f
k about the fact that the UK once had an empire.That, however, is completely irrelevant, as is the thought that it has anything to do with whether we had an empire. The establishment of GMT, lines of longitude and timezones running from it are down to maritime timekeeping in the first place, and subsequently to the synchronisation of railway timetables.
Mind you, if it makes you feel better to be able to bleat about the fact that we no longer have an empire, you crack on.
And the thing about foreigners not equating GMT to being UK time; come on, admit that's true.
Lighter summer evenings for longer, when it would also be warmer later into the evening, would surely be beneficial to the leisure industry.
I would be more inclined to go out to be able to enjoy sitting outside eating/drinking if it was still light and warm until I decided it was time to go home as opposed to clearing off home because it was getting cold and dark.
I would be more inclined to go out to be able to enjoy sitting outside eating/drinking if it was still light and warm until I decided it was time to go home as opposed to clearing off home because it was getting cold and dark.
Digga said:
Well we don't and neither do any of the UK railways cross timezones for that matter.
You missed his point (although of course the Eurostar services do now cross time zones)Until the coming of the railway, every town in the country kept its own time (so, for example, Bristol time was 8 minutes behind London time). Time was standardised with the coming of the railways by the use of GMT throughout the country.
I guess I don't really see the point. Just had a look outside the office and its getting pretty dark already - certainly dark enough that I wouldn't want to attempt any "outdoor" activities such as sports, even if shifted by a further hour from BST (which we are in now) so even if I was finishing work at effectively 4:30PM BST by the time I had got home (5:10pm) and then say I wanted to go for a run by the time I've got changed etc it will be 5:30PM (equivilant) and be pretty dark again, and this is now - in a fortnights time it would be even worse. Face it that in the winter we have dark mornings and dark evenings.
FWIW most outdoor based sports in this country either have floodlights or can be done in the dark anyway so i can't see how its a massive impediment, in fact the only one I can think of that really gets hammered is golf!
FWIW most outdoor based sports in this country either have floodlights or can be done in the dark anyway so i can't see how its a massive impediment, in fact the only one I can think of that really gets hammered is golf!
Amuses me that this debate comes up every year, I'm sure there are folk that think the amount of daylight in a 24 hour period is pretty constant throughout the year and the only reason it gets dark early is because of the switch to GMT in October.
If we kept BST all year, in Winter it wouldn't get light until about 9AM, this means everyone going to work & school would be doing so in the dark, It would get dark about 5PM, meaning that everyone coming home from work would still be doing so in the dark. putting the clocks back mean that at least you get to go to work/school when it's light, schools finish at about 3:30 so regardless of GMT or BST it's not going to be dark until after you've gotten home.
If we kept BST all year, in Winter it wouldn't get light until about 9AM, this means everyone going to work & school would be doing so in the dark, It would get dark about 5PM, meaning that everyone coming home from work would still be doing so in the dark. putting the clocks back mean that at least you get to go to work/school when it's light, schools finish at about 3:30 so regardless of GMT or BST it's not going to be dark until after you've gotten home.
s2art said:
I would still like to know why we gave up on this after it was tried in approx 1970. And why Portugal reverted after trying it twice.
BBC News reportqube_TA said:
Amuses me that this debate comes up every year, I'm sure there are folk that think the amount of daylight in a 24 hour period is pretty constant throughout the year and the only reason it gets dark early is because of the switch to GMT in October.
If we kept BST all year, in Winter it wouldn't get light until about 9AM, this means everyone going to work & school would be doing so in the dark, It would get dark about 5PM, meaning that everyone coming home from work would still be doing so in the dark. putting the clocks back mean that at least you get to go to work/school when it's light, schools finish at about 3:30 so regardless of GMT or BST it's not going to be dark until after you've gotten home.
This. Back when I was at college (which was an hour's bus ride away) it'd be dark when I got on the bus in the morning, it'd still be dark when I arrived at college. As I was doing IT the windows of the building were all tinted (to prevent screen glare) which meant you were practically in the dark all day, then I'd leave at 5pm... when it was dark. It was ridiculously depressing.If we kept BST all year, in Winter it wouldn't get light until about 9AM, this means everyone going to work & school would be doing so in the dark, It would get dark about 5PM, meaning that everyone coming home from work would still be doing so in the dark. putting the clocks back mean that at least you get to go to work/school when it's light, schools finish at about 3:30 so regardless of GMT or BST it's not going to be dark until after you've gotten home.
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