The idea was first seriously proposed by William Willett, a builder from Kent, back in 1907. He was an early riser who hated wasting daylight in summer mornings, so he suggested moving the clocks forward in spring and back in autumn. He even published a pamphlet called The Waste of Daylight.
Willett campaigned tirelessly, but the government wasn’t interested—until World War I came along. In 1916, Germany adopted daylight saving to save fuel, and Britain quickly followed. The aim was to use less artificial lighting during the longer summer evenings, saving coal for the war effort.
So, the clock change was born out of practical necessity, not a love of confusing your smartphone. And while the war ended, the habit stuck. Today, it’s enshrined in the Summer Time Act 1972, which officially sets the rules we still follow.
