When do the clocks go forward in 2019? And why do the clocks change?

Yes, we know, the weather is still a bit grey but believe it or not, British Summer Time is nearly here.

At the end of March, the clocks go forward giving us more daylight in the evening.

So whilst it’s not quite time to break out the sunglasses, the clock changes do mean that with any luck, brighter days are on their way.

Here’s everything you need to know about the clock changes in 2019:

When do the clocks change in 2019?

This year the clocks go forward by one hour at 1:00 am on March 31.

The clocks will go back again on October 27, taking the UK back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which is the standard time zone against which all other time zones in the world are referenced.

The clock changes always happen on the last Sunday of the month.

What is BST?

BST stands for British Summer Time and is one hour ahead of GMT.

BST is implemented during the summer months making for darker mornings and lighter evenings.

Why do our clocks go forward in spring?

Daylight saving time was the result of a campaign by British builder William Willett to stop people wasting valuable hours of light in the summer months and to save fuel during the war.

In 1916, parliament passed the Summer Time Act, creating British Summer Time.

Then, in 1968 and 1971, Britain experimented with keeping one hour ahead of GMT all year round.

We then returned to our now familiar GMT system in the winter and summer time in between March and October.