It’s the last Sunday of March and the shortest day of the year. Last night at 2am people in Belgium and other countries that are in our time zone put their clocks forward by 1 hour. The change from Central European Time (CET) to Central European Summer Time (CEST) mean that today (30 March) is just 23 hours long rather than 24 hours.
We’re in the last weekend of March and as in other years the last Sunday in March is an hour shorter than other days. At 2am on the morning of the last Sunday of March we switch from wintertime (GMT+1) to summertime (GMT+2). This means that the clocks go forward by one hour and 2am becomes 3am. The reverse is true on the last Sunday in October that due to the switch from summertime to wintertime is 1 hour longer than other days. From today we can expect it to still be light until well after 8pm.
The current system of switching to summertime from the end of March was brought in here in Belgium in 1977. This was in the wake of the 1974 oil crisis and the introduction of summertime was above all designed to be a way of saving energy.
Although many people like summertime as it remains light for longer, there have always been people that are opposed to changing the clocks and this group has grown in recent years. They argue that summertime does not result in a lower energy consumption. Furthermore, commuters travel to work in the dark during the morning rush hour and travel back home in the baking sun during the evening rush hour. Those that oppose summertime also say that it disrupts people’s biological clocks.