As clocks go back, how daylight saving polemic became policy

For many people, it will simply mean an extra hour in bed. For others, it's a disruption to their circadian rhythm that can take weeks to fix.

- Donna Ferguson

Tomorrow at 2am, clocks in the UK will go back by an hour, a practice which has been mandated by law for more than a century.

A wealthy builder, William Willett, came up with "daylight saving" while out riding early on a summer morning in 1907. Noting that most people still had their curtains drawn, shutting out the early morning light while they slept, it occurred to him that putting the clocks forward in spring would mean they could spend more of their waking hours in daylight.