News Beat
When Will The UK Get 8pm Sunsets Again In 2026?
On the last Sunday of March each year, the clocks jump forward one hour at 1am in the UK.
This year, it’ll happen on Sunday, 29 March.
That marks the start of British Summer Time (BST). And because the clocks hop forward, sunsets begin an hour earlier than usual – as the summer sun reaches us, the sunsets will increasingly start later.
Which begs the question of: when oh when will we have 8pm sunsets again?
It depends on where you live
Different parts of the UK will get 8pm sunsets on different dates, depending on where they are placed in relation to the sun’s rays of light.
That means certain parts of the UK may get 8pm sunsets earlier than others. For instance, Fermanagh in Northern Ireland is expected to get an 8pm sunset the day the clocks change (29 March).
For other areas, Time Out shared, the dates are:
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Edinburgh: April 6
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Cardiff: April 10
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Birmingham: April 12
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London: April 17.
That means those in the capital will have to wait more than two weeks after the clocks change for longer evenings to settle in.
Why does daylight saving time exist?
BST is sometimes called daylight saving time. It didn’t exist until 1916, even though people like Benjamin Franklin had proposed it as far back as 1784.
But builder William Willett advocated for it heavily because he was frustrated to see people “wasting” summer morning light by sleeping through early sunrises.
Eventually, this caught the attention of MP Robert Pearce, though Germany adopted the policy first. The UK took it on weeks later.
Is daylight saving time bad for us?
Some research suggests that the clocks going forward is bad for our health.
Car accidents and heart attacks rise after the change, for instance.
The European Parliament has backed a proposal to scrap it, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has also called for the same many times.
