The British Sleep Society position statement on Daylight Saving Time in the UK

Megan R. Crawford; Eva C. Winnebeck; Malcolm von Schantz; Maria Gardani; Michelle A. Miller; Victoria Revell; Alanna Hare; Caroline L. Horton; Simon Durrant; Joerg Steier

doi:10.1111/jsr.14352

The British Sleep Society position statement on Daylight Saving Time in the UK

Megan R. Crawford^*, Eva C. Winnebeck, Malcolm von Schantz, Maria Gardani, Michelle A. Miller, Victoria Revell, Alanna Hare, Caroline L. Horton, Simon Durrant, Joerg Steier

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

12 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

There is an ongoing debate in the United Kingdom and in other countries about whether twice-yearly changes into and out of Daylight Saving Time should be abolished. Opinions are divided about whether any abolition of Daylight Saving Time should result in permanent Standard Time, or year-long Daylight Saving Time. The British Sleep Society concludes from the available scientific evidence that circadian and sleep health are affected negatively by enforced changes of clock time (especially in a forward direction) and positively by the availability of natural daylight during the morning. Thus, our recommendation is that the United Kingdom should abolish the twice-yearly clock change and reinstate Standard Time throughout the year.

Original language	English
Article number	e14352
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of Sleep Research
Early online date	23 Oct 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.14352
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 23 Oct 2024

Funding

This position statement is supported by the following organisations and networks: The Irish Sleep Society British Paediatric Sleep Society Capella (Sleep Action) The Sleep Charity The British Society of Pharmacy Sleep Services Circadian Mental Health Network. MC is a consultant for Signifier Medical Technologies and has received research funding from BRUK. EW has received research funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation). MG has received funding from Capella Charity for running training events. MM has received research funding from NIHR, royalties from Oxford University Press for Sleep, Health and Society Textbooks. MvS has received research funding from the MRC, Wellcome Trust and NIH. VR has received research funding from the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Justice, UKDRI and NIHR, she is also a scientific advisor for Lumie. AH has received speaker fees from Idorsia Pharmaceuticals, Holland and Barrett, and Fisher and Paykel. These activities have not influenced the submitted work. All other authors report no financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous 3\u2009years, and no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work. All authors are members of the BSS Executive Committee or BSS executive committee co\u2010opted subgroups. The British Sleep Society paid for the production of the image for the manuscript (payment received by Oliver Burdekin at burdGis).

Keywords

circadian clock
circadian timing systems
clock change
daylight saving time
sleep
standard time

Access to Document

10.1111/jsr.14352Licence: CC BY 4.0

Crawford-etal-JSR-2024-The-British-Sleep-Society-position-statement-on-DaylightFinal published version, 1 MBLicence: CC BY 4.0

6 Citations
1 Letter

Response to Martin‐Olalla and Mira's Letter to the Editor ‘Seasonal Daylight Saving Time in UK: A Long‐Standing, Successful Record With Few Reasons to Alter’
Crawford, M. R., Winnebeck, E. C., von Schantz, M., Gardani, M., Miller, M. A., Revell, V., Hare, A., Horton, C. L., Durrant, S. & Steier, J., 18 Mar 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Sleep Research. e70022.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter

Cite this

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title = "The British Sleep Society position statement on Daylight Saving Time in the UK",

abstract = "There is an ongoing debate in the United Kingdom and in other countries about whether twice-yearly changes into and out of Daylight Saving Time should be abolished. Opinions are divided about whether any abolition of Daylight Saving Time should result in permanent Standard Time, or year-long Daylight Saving Time. The British Sleep Society concludes from the available scientific evidence that circadian and sleep health are affected negatively by enforced changes of clock time (especially in a forward direction) and positively by the availability of natural daylight during the morning. Thus, our recommendation is that the United Kingdom should abolish the twice-yearly clock change and reinstate Standard Time throughout the year.",

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AB - There is an ongoing debate in the United Kingdom and in other countries about whether twice-yearly changes into and out of Daylight Saving Time should be abolished. Opinions are divided about whether any abolition of Daylight Saving Time should result in permanent Standard Time, or year-long Daylight Saving Time. The British Sleep Society concludes from the available scientific evidence that circadian and sleep health are affected negatively by enforced changes of clock time (especially in a forward direction) and positively by the availability of natural daylight during the morning. Thus, our recommendation is that the United Kingdom should abolish the twice-yearly clock change and reinstate Standard Time throughout the year.

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ER -

The British Sleep Society position statement on Daylight Saving Time in the UK

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

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Research output

Response to Martin‐Olalla and Mira's Letter to the Editor ‘Seasonal Daylight Saving Time in UK: A Long‐Standing, Successful Record With Few Reasons to Alter’

Cite this