As autumn sets in and the nights start to draw longer, it's finally time to officially say goodbye to British Summer Time.
At 2.00am this morning, Britain wound back the clocks and dragged the country into another five months of Greenwich Mean Time.
But while you might have enjoyed the extra hour in bed, many countries around the world have already abandoned the annual time shift.
Now, experts are joining a growing chorus of calls for Britain to join them.
While Daylight Saving Time (DST) was once common around the world, Britain is now well and truly in the minority.
About half of all countries in the world that once observed DST have now given up on setting back the clocks.
In the last 10 years alone, Azerbaijan, Iran, Jordan, Namibia, Russia, Samoa, Syria, Turkey, Uruguay and most of Mexico have all ended the practice.
Today, only about a third of countries worldwide currently observe the practice, with the remaining 139 nations all keeping one time zone all year round.
Britain first introduced DST in 1916, during the height of the First World War, to save fuel used for lighting by making the most of the long summer evenings.
There was a brief attempt to ditch the practice between 1968 and 1971 when the country experimented with keeping British Summer Time all year round.
However, the experiment was abandoned after complaints about cold, dark winter mornings, particularly in the north of Scotland.
And so, the UK has been resigned to being one of a dwindling number of countries that shift the clocks back and forth every year.
The practice is mainly maintained in Europe, where the majority of countries still change the clocks every spring and autumn.
But even in this stronghold of DST enthusiasts, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Iceland, Russia and Turkey have all ditched the practice.
Egypt, meanwhile, has the rather odd claim to fame of being the only country in Africa to use DST as well as being the only country to end and bring the practice back within the last 20 years.
The North African nation ditched DST in 2015, but brought it back again in 2023 as part of a government initiative to save energy.
The only other North African oddity is Morocco, which was on permanent DST, essentially setting its time zone to GMT+1, from 2018 until September this year, when the law was finally reversed after years of public outcry.
Britons are not happy about having the clocks go back this weekend, and experts agree that the practice should be abolished
DST is used outside Europe, mainly in North America and Australia, but these nations have the rather odd distinction of not using it everywhere.
In Australia, DST is observed everywhere apart from Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, the Christmas Islands, and the Cocos Islands.
Chile changes its clocks with the seasons, except for in the Aysén and Magallanes districts in the sparsely populated southern region.
Likewise, Mexico abolished DST in 2022 but ruled that Baja California and a number of municipalities near the US border could keep changing the clocks to stay in sync with their American neighbours.
Meanwhile, the US has one of the strangest arrangements, observing DST everywhere besides Hawaii and parts of Arizona.
Arizona was given an exemption from DST rules because of the scorching conditions in the Sonoran Desert.
During a trial of DST in 1967, people were forced to stay in the heat for longer and run their air conditioning for a greater period of time, leading to a spike in energy bills.
The exception is the part of the state that falls within the Navajo Nation, which does observe DST so that it can stay in sync with the tribal lands in neighbouring New Mexico and Utah.
With so much of the world now turning its back on DST for practical reasons, experts are now calling for Britain and the few remaining holdouts to follow suit.
Professor Jagdish Khubchandani, of New Mexico State University, told the Daily Mail that he is 'of the general view that DST should be abolished'.
Scientists have found that setting the clocks back in autumn leads to an increased rate of heart attacks, strokes, and a surge of mental health problems
What are the harms associated with Daylight Saving Time?
- Increased rate of heart attacks
- Higher risk of strokes
- Increased prevalence of mental health issues
- Worsening conditions for people with pre-existing mental health issues
- Increased rates of drug consumption
- A temporary spike in car crashes
- A spike in medical accidents and issues in maternity care
This is because a growing body of research has started to show serious physical, mental and safety impacts from changing the clocks.
Setting the clock back an hour might not seem like a big change, but many parts of the body are finely attuned to daily sleep schedules and any shift can induce a 'mini jet-lag' state.
Professor Khubchandani says: 'For physical health, there are several reports showing sharp surges in heart attacks and strokes. Also, temporary disruptions in blood pressure, heart rate variability, and stress hormone production are some of the effects.
'For mental health, people may notice episodes of depression or general changes in mood.
'In our latest study, we also found that people with preexisting mental illness face greater risk of changes in mental health status following changes in the clocks.'
Likewise, research conducted in Sweden has shown that the switch is associated with a 10 per cent jump in psychoactive substance use.
By comparison, that is the same increase in drug consumption that scientists have observed following serious injuries or car accidents in the US.
Scientists have even found that the rates of dangerous and potentially fatal errors shoot up following the change.
Some studies have suggested that the risk of fatal traffic accidents increases by around six per cent following the spring DST transition.
How to avoid 'micro jet lag' as the clocks go back
Professor Simon Durrant, sleep expert at University of Lincoln and President of the British Sleep Society, told the Daily Mail how to avoid the worst impacts of the clock change.
Professor Durrant explains: 'When the clocks go back each autumn, we are given an extra hour overnight.
'While this can feel like a good thing - and certainly nicer than when we lose an hour in the spring - it is important to try to keep our time in bed consistent.
'The easiest way to achieve this is to go to bed a little later on the night before the clock change, and then get up at the same clock time (e.g. 8am) that you normally would.
'If you do this consistently for two or three days, your body will adjust with minimal disruption to your sleep pattern.'
Professor Andrey Rzhetsky, from the University of Chicago and author of a major review on the health impacts of DST, told the Daily Mail: 'The underlying cause is simple: the springtime switch is stressful for many people.
'Possibly, because doctors are stressed and less focused, there is about a 10 per cent jump in problems associated with child delivery and maternal care.'
Professor Rzhetsky adds: 'From my perspective, it should be [abolished] based on health effects that we looked at.'
While the effects of the springtime step forward and the autumnal rollback are different, both changes have been documented to cause serious problems.
A team from the University of Kent recently reviewed 157 studies from 36 countries that had analysed the effects of clock changes.
The review revealed that when clocks 'spring forward', the shift is associated with an increased number of heart attacks and fatal traffic accidents but also with less crime involving physical harm.
On the contrary, when clocks 'fall back' by an hour in the autumn, all-cause mortality and workplace accidents appear to reduce, while crimes involving physical harm increase.
According to sleep scientists, the reason that these small changes have such dramatic effects is that they affect our body's natural rhythms.
Dr Jeffrey Kelu, an expert on the body's natural cycles from University College Dublin, told the Daily Mail: 'Our body clock runs on a roughly 24-hour cycle that regulates sleep, hormones, metabolism, body temperature, mood and immune function.
With the UK now in the minority as a country that still uses DST, experts are calling for Britain to finally get rid of the harmful practice (stock image)
'When it stays in sync with the natural day-night cycle, we sleep better and function better. When it doesn’t, for example through jet lag or night shift work, studies link this to poorer sleep, low mood and, over the longer term, a higher risk of heart and metabolic problems.'
However, the key for setting our natural circadian rhythm is exposure to sunlight in the morning, which means we adjust very slowly in the autumn and winter.
'Changing the clocks shifts social time abruptly, but the body clock adjusts only gradually, so many people feel out of sync for days,' says Dr Kelu.
For this reason, many scientists are now calling for a change to a single time-zone system that would follow the natural cycles of the sun more accurately and prevent sudden shocks.
Dr David Kuhlmann, sleep medicine physician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, told the Daily Mail: 'Our internal clock is regulated by the light-dark cycle, and permanent daylight saving time would mean darker mornings and more evening light, which can disrupt our sleep and make it harder to maintain a healthy sleep-wake schedule.
'The American Academy of Sleep Medicine strongly supports eliminating seasonal clock changes in favour of permanent standard time, which best aligns with the body’s circadian rhythm.'