Don't forget - the clocks go back on 26th October this year

In the UK this year clocks go back by one hour at 1am on Sunday 26th October 2008. Love it or hate it, it’s an immutable event. The immediate upside is that you get an extra hour in bed, the immediate downside is that it’s dark earlier.

Daylight Saving Time

A survey recently conducted in London found that 60% of people didn’t want the clocks to go back – so why do we do it? The only people that seem to gain from it are farmers and people who work outside in the morning.   Some would argue that it’s good for the health – like the chap who initially championed the idea – William Willett when he suggested that we add 20 minutes to each Sunday in April as it would improve the nation’s health. (However, the nation’s patience would have been stretched to the limit had this been introduced)

It really came into effect in 1916 when we introduced Daylight Saving Time in the summer as it felt “prudent to economise, to promote greater efficiency in using daylight hours, and in the use of artificial lighting.”

Cosy up by an open fire this Autumn

So what to do about it all…?
Why not make the most out of the long nights drawing in? Pimms on the patio at 10pm is probably out, but a full bodied red (wine!!) by the crackle of an open fire is most defiantly in and this activity has got to be one of the finest ‘simple pleasures’ of life. Get the kids in bed, grab a good book and snuggle up by the fire after a walk on a crisp late Autumn afternoon. Have a search at cottages4you.co.uk, where you’ll find hundreds of fabulous cosy cottages with open fires.

Click here to search for cottages with open fires or woodburners>>

MW

Some would even say our love of the weather is an obsession. Perhaps it’s more to do with the fact we’ve got one of the most changeable and unpredictable climates on the planet, perhaps it’s more to do with the essence of British culture.

Perhaps borne from this obsession, Britain has paved the way with weather forecasting. Pioneering many technologies and methodologies, often as a result of war time and aviation needs, the modern day weather forecast is the crowning glory of years of research and expertise and believe it or not, today it’s more accurate than it’s ever been.

Online weather forecasts and resources

If you’re planning a holiday in the UK, the weather is bound to be an important factor in your thoughts. At cottages4you, we’ve found the following links really helpful to us for getting the low down on our holiday destinations..

Something for the weekend?

The BBC Weather Centre website gives you a radar image of Britain, overlaid with predicted cloud, wind and rain (or hopefully, lack of!) patterns on an hour-by-hour basis. This is ideal if it’s Friday and you’re planning a weekend away and don’t know if you should pack your sou’wester or your flip flops.

2 weeks away
Metcheck offer a day-by-day forecast on the upcoming 2 weeks. Other features on this site include the BBQ Weather Forecast, for if you are planning the illusive fair weathered British Barbecue.

It’s better than this time last year..
WeatherOnline holds records of more than 4700 stations worldwide, so even if you don’t trust the weather forecasts you can use this site to see how the weather was this time in years gone by.

As a footnote, who can repute the enduring appeal of The Shipping Forecast. Four times a day BBC Radio 4 Longwave broadcasts this baffling roundup of the forecast from our coastal waters. This programme is deemed so important that it even gets away with interrupting another of Britain’s irrefutable conversational pastimes – the cricket.

MW