Wednesday, 16 March 2011

Double summertime

Plans for another trial of double summertime have recently been put back on ice. Having the United Kingdom in the same timezone as continental (western) Europe was trialled around 1970, and turned out to be a non-starter. Certainly here in the Western Isles, which are 7 degrees longitude west of London, this would lead to a very skewed day, particularly in winter. On the shortest day of the year, it would leave sunrise at 10.15 am and sunset at 4.34 pm.

So, I’m glad things are going to stay the way they are. If only because of the following words of wisdom:

When told the reason for Daylight Savings Time, the Old Indian replied: “Only the Government would have you believe that by cutting a foot off the top off a blanket and sewing it onto the bottom you’d have a longer blanket”.

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