Switching to winter time in 2023: Clocks will change again in October

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In the evening it gets dark early again. It will now be five months before we can stay outside for long periods of time on bright evenings again. Now you can make yourself comfortable on the couch in the evenings with a cup of tea or cocoa and a warm blanket without feeling guilty. In Switzerland, daylight saving time ends on the night between October 28th and October 29th.

Since when has there been a time change in Switzerland?

Switzerland implemented the time change in 1981 to comply with neighboring countries. Many European countries introduced summer time a few years ago to save energy through better use of daylight. Switzerland had previously rejected the change in a referendum.

But experts doubt its benefits: Although people turn on the lights less in the evenings in summer, they get warmer in the morning hours in spring and autumn.

The Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (Metas) is responsible for the time change. It operates several atomic clocks in its laboratories and distributes the official Swiss time derived from the Universal Time Coordinate (UTC).

Twilight can be dangerous

Caution is advised when it comes to traffic: Every year, the Swiss Transport Club (VCS) warns that early twilight, as well as unstable weather conditions, can negatively affect the visibility of road users. To prevent accidents, VCS advises pedestrians and cyclists to wear high-visibility clothing and even reflective strips. Bicycles must also have a white headlight, a red taillight and reflectors front and rear.

Change challenges the body

The fact that Sunday is an hour longer due to the time change shouldn’t bother most people. But as polls regularly show, the switch to daylight saving time in the spring and standard time in the fall is not very popular. Many of those surveyed said they had already experienced health or psychological problems after the time change.

Difficulty falling asleep and fatigue: Even the slightest turn of the clock can strain your body. First, the internal clock must adapt to change, and this requires energy. For this reason, many people feel tired and sluggish during the transition. This is especially evident when a clock suddenly disappears, i.e. when it changes to daylight saving time.

When did the transition to summer time in 2023 occur?

This year, as usual, we reversed the clock. In Central Europe, daylight saving time begins on the last Sunday of March. This means: On the night between March 25, 2023 and March 26, 2023, the clocks were set forward one hour from 02:00 in the morning to 03:00 at night. On the last Sunday of October, the clocks go back again.

This practice was harmonized among European Union countries in 1998. The transition to summer time will take place for the last time in March 2021. The debate about the need to change the clock has been going on for several years, but the decision is still open to this day. The European Commission lists the positive reasons for the end of the time change as follows: The time change has negative effects on health, traffic accidents increase and energy savings decrease due to the time change.

Doubts about saving energy

Critics of the time change argue that, in addition to the health risks, it does not fulfill its original purpose. In fact, turning the clock forward in spring will help save energy during the bright season. Idea: If the day is moved forward one hour, there will be less lighting and therefore less electricity used. However, according to the analysis, energy saving effects can hardly be detected. In fact, ending the time change has been discussed in the EU for a long time. The European Union has specifically planned this since 2018, and the EU Commission has presented a draft law on this. Even the European Parliament accepted this, but postponed the end of the time change planned for 2019 to 2021. However, member states did not comply and shelved the plans. The central issue in the EU debate is the disagreement over which time (so-called standard time or summer time) should actually prevail. Patchwork quilts with several time zones should be avoided; Some EU countries are generally against ending the time change. In the debate, the German Society for Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine advocates preserving standard time, namely winter time. Daylight, and especially the blue component of sunlight, is the master timer of the so-called human internal clock and is crucial to the wake-sleep rhythm. According to experts, all this is best achieved during the winter months. However, when switching to summer time, there is a risk of sleep deprivation, which leads to loss of concentration and performance as well as more accidents.

The end of the time change still remains unclear.

How will I remember that the time has changed?

If you have trouble remembering when the clocks go forward and backward, you can use various mnemonics like these:

• In the spring, you put the garden furniture in front of the door. In the fall you put them back in the shed.
• 2-3-2 rule (based on RS-232 computer interface): In the spring, the time is set from 2 o’clock to 3 o’clock. From 3 a.m. to 2 a.m. in the fall.
• Temperatures are negative in winter and positive in summer.
• When the weather warms up again in the spring, time becomes longer and the clock moves forward. When the weather gets cold again in autumn, time gets shorter and the clock turns back.
• For all English speakers: Jump forward, step back!
• And it’s really stupid: In the summer, the clock goes forward – both with an “o”.

But in fact, you no longer need to remember reminders: almost all clocks in modern homes change themselves, whether it is a smartphone, a radio alarm clock or a DAB radio. There’s only one thing left that’s challenging: the oven timer.

Source : Blick