The start of 2021 has been one of the most difficult winters in Scotland in recent times.
Long nights, bitterly cold temperatures and a national lockdown has made life extremely tough for many Scots across the country.
But there is some light on the horizon as coronavirus restrictions look set to lift over the course of the coming weeks.
Daylight hours will also be getting longer from this weekend, as the clocks finally go forward on Sunday, March 28.
At 1am that Sunday, the clock will shift forward an hour as Scotland finally welcomes in British Summer Time.
Luckily nowadays, a rise in technology means that our mobile phones can automatically change the time for us.
But for those of us still on more traditional means of telling the time, be sure to be on the ball this Sunday to ensure you’re not late for the week ahead.
The clocks will then go back to Greenwich Mean Time on Sunday, October 31 this year.
Why do the clocks change?
Benjamin Franklin came up with the concept of changing the clocks in Paris in 1784.
The inventor suggested that people could save money on candles if they got up when it was lighter outside.
In 1907, this idea was brought to the UK by a builder called William Willett, who published a leaflet called The Waste of Daylight, encouraging people to wake up earlier.
Sadly, the UK government took some convincing to make the clock change official, and it wasn’t until 1916 - a year after Willett died - that the clock change was implemented in the UK.
How to remember which way the clocks go?
There’s an easy phrase you can remember to make sure you’re on top of the clock changes.
This is ‘spring forward, fall back’ - meaning the clocks go forwards in the spring, and back in the fall (autumn).
How to cope with the clock change?
While the clocks only change by an hour, it can wreak havoc with your body clock and sleep patterns.
Dr Victoria Revell, Head of Strategic Development at the Surrey Clinical Research Centre, explained: "Moving the clocks forward will result in delaying the clock time of sunrise and thus the time that we receive the morning bright light necessary to keep our body clock on track.
“Scheduling this time change for a weekend compounds the problem, as in addition to the clock change we tend to have different sleeping patterns during the weekend, so an even greater shift in internal timing is required to get us back on track come Monday morning.”
Thankfully, there are several things you can do to prepare for the clock change:
1. Prepare your body
Try gradually shifting the timing of your body clock in the days before the clock change. This means that by Sunday your body will already be on BST.
2. Get outside
Try to get outside soon after you wake up on Sunday. This bright light will boost your mood and alertness, and will also provide the signal the body needs to push the body clock earlier in time.
3. Avoid staying up and getting up late
Try to stick to your weekday sleep schedule. If you let yourself have a lie in, you’ll need an even bigger shift in internal timing to adapt and get up for the first day back at work.
