100 years on ... what we hate most about clocks going back

If we could turn back time ... we probably wouldn't turn back time!
Clocks go back flaws at a glanceClocks go back flaws at a glance
Clocks go back flaws at a glance

Truth be told, a century after its UK introduction, autumnal clocks going back (soundtracked here by Cher) well and truly gets our backs up.

Timely public poll results reveal yesterday morning's annual early morning time warp is far from what we want because ...

30% dislike leaving work in the dark

23% hate they still wake up at the same time each morning

5% can’t stand being repeatedly reminded by their parents

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Winter surely awaits as signaled by inevitable, if outmoded, tradition of us all re-calibrating our clocks in early hours of Sunday ... 100 years since bid to make mornings lighter for farmers and schoolkids alike.

Lighting retailer Scotlight Direct surveyed 1,000 Britons about most annoying aspects of clocks going back ...

It's dark before you leave work: 30%

Your internal body clock still wakes you up so you don't actually get that extra hour of sleep: 23%

Having to manually change all of your clocks at home and in your car because unlike some smartphones, they don't update themselves: 16%

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The confusion of whether your phone and clock has actually updated itself or whether you're looking at the wrong time: 15%

It's the main topic of conversation for a long time before it actually happens: 6%

Your parents repeatedly remind you about the time change: 5%

Children's body clocks don't know that the time has changed, and will get up an hour earlier than normal (according to the clock time): 5%

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It's clear what we hate most is night falling when we’re still what seems like only halfway through working day with promise of standing in warmth outside a pub, with cold beer in hand, dwindling with the daylight as central heating and TV box sets beckon instead.

Second most annoying fact is that, far from enjoying long-awaited ‘extra hour in bed’, internal body clocks still wake us up earlier so we miss out completely on those extra duvet zeds.

Clock chaos and confusion affects us too with many (we know who we are!) not bothering to manually change home and car clocks that have hands rather than magical digital pixels. Some of us aren't even sure our phones and TVs have updated automatically during the night in question.

And a few of us are thoroughly annoyed with folk (you know who you are!) who, like some soothsayer harbinger of doom, have been repeatedly banging on about it for weeks, if not months, before it actually happened. Mums everywhere, meanwhile, become unofficial, non-appointed but perfectly predictable national time-keepers reminding all, and moreover sundry, not to forget clocks change.

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"Some people do find the clocks going back an annoying, even depressing, affair. It might seem bleak, but we still have Christmas to look forward to!" sums up Andrew Fraser of scotlightdirect.co.uk Scotlight Direct.