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In March 2019 the European Parliament approved a proposal that spelled the end of clock changes within the EU. From 2021, EU member states will have to choose whether to stick to summer or winter time for good, with no more springing forward or falling back.

This leaves the UK with a conundrum. Since – as you might have noticed – the UK has now left the EU, the country will have to decide whether it wants to fall into line with the rest of Europe or stick to the habit of flipping our clocks back and forth twice a year.


Although the government has made it clear that it doesn’t want to follow the EU’s example, it hasn’t been exactly forthcoming on what will happen if when we fall out of step with the rest of the EU. In an effort to prod them into action, the House of Lords has released a report analysing what will happen if the UK opts to keep the clock change – with the potential for chaos on the Northern Ireland border and trade with Europe.

“So far the government has stuck its head in the sand on the EU Commission’s proposal, hoping that it goes away,” says Baroness Donaghy, chair of the EU Internal Market Sub-Committee that compiled the report. “However, if it doesn’t, we could be caught unaware and unprepared to make a decision

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Without any decision from the government, the UK is set to fall out of step with the EU – although exactly how that shakes out will depend on the time change that each member state decides on. If France opts to stay in permanent summer time (GMT+2) then the UK would be two hours behind France in the winter and one hour behind for the rest of the year. If France opted to stay in its winter time equivalent (GMT+1), then during spring and summer the UK would enter the same time zone as France.

This could have a big impact on transport, tourism and trade. The aviation industry in particular would be disrupted as planes flying between airports in the UK and EU would need to review their schedules to accommodate the new time arrangements. It’s important for airlines to know what time it will be in a given location so that they can bid for departure and arrival slots at airports. Currently EU routes represent 50 per cent of traffic at Heathrow and between 70 per cent and 87 per cent at the other six airports in the UK.


A4E, Europe's largest airline association told the EU there would need to be at least 18 months notice after the publication of a new directive in order to prepare, so if the UK were to decide to change its ways, it would need to happen with a significant notice period. Otherwise the UK’s decision could potentially send airlines into further disarray.

As the Republic of Ireland is still in the European Union, there is a chance that it could find itself on a different time to Northern Ireland for five or seven months of the year, depending on whether the ROI decides to stick to winter or summer time. “Given the political situation in the north and south of [the island of] Ireland, this will be yet another issue that would need to be resolved,” says Donaghy. Having two different time zones would be particularly annoying for the approximately 30,000 people who cross the Irish border every day.

The other option is to follow the EU and stick to one time permanently. While this would take away confusion, it would mean completely reconsidering the way the UK has operated for over a hundred years. There was an experimental break in the changing of clocks in 1968 which introduced a year-round summer time, though people in the northern regions, industrial workers and farmers were against it. It ultimately ended the decision to end the experiment and the system hasn’t been touched since.

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The Scottish Government says that abolishing the clock changes would raise socio-economic concerns for Scotland, and the National Farmers Union of Scotland says that any changes to the current system would affect Scotland more than anywhere else in the UK. In winter the further north you go, the shorter the days get, so changing the clocks means that more people in northern regions can make more of the daylight hours in the summer.


For now, the committee from the House of Lords is asking the government to do some research into the different effects either decision may have – especially as much of the current research is either outdated or opinion-based. If the UK were to decide to align with the EU, there would then be another decision as to which time zone to adopt.

“We've kept to the same time now for many years and I think people take it for granted,” says Heather Rolfe, head of research at Demos, a UK-based think tank. “It’s a good time for the UK to consider whether we do want to change the clocks.”

Maria Mellor is a writer for WIRED. She tweets from @Maria_mellor

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