Darker mornings in winter and lighter evenings in summer?

British Summer Time was introduced to increase daylight hours and to maximise working time...this is now under review:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/a-brave-new-dawn-should-britain-change-its-clocks-1930662.html

The current plans are to align our clocks with mainland Europe so that in winter our time is GMT + 1 and in summer it's GMT + 2. This would mean lighter evening and darker mornings all year round.

While I can understand some of the reasoning behind this, surely dark mornings are just as dangerous for motorist/children going to school as darker evenings would be. Also, a farmer was interviewed about this on Radio 4 earlier this evening, and he seemed to think it wasn't a brilliant idea for his livestock either.

Personally, I think we should leave it as it is. It's hard enough to get up in the mornings at winter as it is, and we already have pretty long summer evenings. Also, I like it getting dark early in December so I have an excuse to curl up with a book and a mug of hot chocolate by the fire.

What do you think?

Reply 1

amizzle91

I agree, darker mornings are just as dangerous as darker evenings are.

I think it would be odd... I like the way the clocks change now, it means Winter (or Summer) is coming :p:

I couldn't imagine Christmas with it not being dark by 5pm.

Reply 2

cowsgoquack

GMT 0. Please, we're British.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 3

Fandabidoze!

I personally don't think it should change (I also enjoy the dark evenings in winter) and I don't think it should change in order to possibly prevent a few deaths which may be avoided by using common sense (such as walking along well lit roads if possible).

Reply 4

siani-chan

I personally loathe the winter when it's dark by 4pm, but I really don't think that changing this would prevent any incidents, people should just be more sensible! There are enough warnings out there..

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 5

dothestrand

I like the dark early evenings in autumn/winter. Means it's closer to Christmas YAY.

Reply 6

Broderss

Original post by bluesky42

lol it's not going to actually change daylight. but I guess we can forgive him, because he is a farmer.

if it's not broken don't fix it. isn't that what they say?

i ****ing hate this country sucking up to Europe trying to fit in. because that's all they're trying to do.

but the obvious advantages would be the increase in effectiveness of communication between the UK and Europe. these do have potential benefits for government, business, and consumers.

Reply 7

blacklight

The argument put forward about it disturbing the cows is hilarious. Oh no, the cows are going to be pissed, as if they work on human clocks.

I don't let no cows tell me what to do! You hear me, bovine fiends?? :angry:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 8

hungryaardvark

The thing I most resent about winter is the dark mornings, so I reckon we have it sorted as it is. In any case, why should we fit perfectly in with mainland europe? If you go into any mainland european countries you tend to find that the culture between adjacent and nearby countries is very similar, whereas Britain is an entirely different place, so it makes sense that things like our scheduling should be changed to fit.

Reply 9

jontylol

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I love dark evenings and winter <3

Reply 10

Blueflare

Well I'm never up in the mornings so it staying light later in the evenings would be good for me.
I'd imagine it would be really bad for people having to wake up and travel to work in the dark though. Wouldn't that lead to even more SAD? Overall I think things are probably better off being left as they are.

Reply 11

Titan.vs.intell

My opinion is, that the brightness isn´t the main problem... At the past some veryintelligent persons thought that the changing of time could reduce the energy costs of each person,but how scientists found out,it isn`t on it.....so the shift of time is totally senseless and a unnecessary burden for us and our immune system...

Reply 12

Tiger1993

Why change the habit of a lifetime?!
It's something that has worked so far so why change it?? Not that I am opposed to change, I'm just saying why is there a need for it to be changed? Or even for it to be thought about?

It will not decrease danger, just as it won't increase it. Think about it, darker evenings result in people driving in the dark (most likely tired aswell) they miss something for an instant and BAM!! there's an accident. It's the exact same in dark mornings. As people have already said, the only thing that would decrease the danger here is a bit more common sense.

And I totally agree that the dark evenings are a great excuse to curl up with a book and a hot drink :')