Britain could be about to scrap the annual changing of the clocks, thanks to an EU ruling.

The bloc has dictated that all European countries should stay on a single time zone all year round.

Even though we are due to leave the EU in three months’ time, it looks like the UK will follow suit.

Time looks set to change next year (Picture: PA)

Official emails show Britain is set to adopt British Summer Time permanently, ditching Greenwich Mean Time for good.


The news is set to be welcomed by millions who are tired of the long winter nights and yearn for an extra hour of daylight in the evenings.

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Proposals to change time across Europe were announced by EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker in August.



EU countries have until April to decide which time zone they want to be in permanently.

There was confusion over what would happen to the UK’s clocks when the plans come into force in October 2019.

However emails released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal the government is likely to follow Brussels and propose Britain stay on summer time all year.

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, announced that all EU countries should be in the same time zone (Picture: Bloomberg)

According to the Daily Mail, aides from the Department for Business contacted civil servants in Northern Ireland to discuss the UK’s response

In one email, a senior figure told a colleague: ‘My impression… is that officials’ advice is likely to be in favour of adopting British Summer Time all year.’

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The official added problems could arise if there were different time zones in Northern Ireland and the Republic caused by the EU ruling.

‘It could potentially create a need to put clocks back when crossing the border from south to north,’ the email said.

Campaigners have welcomed the move, although it will not be legally enforceable as the UK will have left the EU by the time it comes in.

Errol Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said it could prevent an ‘early curfew’ on the elderly.

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