IF YOU have to get up early this Sunday remember to set your alarm an hour earlier.

The clocks go forward for British Summer Time (BST), meaning we lose an hour’s precious sleeping time. And it really is precious.

If there is one health problem that almost everyone suffers from at some time in their lives, it is difficulty sleeping, so the last thing we need is an hour knocked off our time under the duvet.

Emotional, psychological, environmental and physical factors can all play their part in keeping you awake at night. I think I’ve got the lot at the moment, with worries about this and that, doors squeaking, toilet cisterns roaring (a recent phenomenon that I am hoping to fix myself with the help of YouTube) and cats marauding.

The latter is getting to be a problem - this morning I was jolted out of slumber with a start when a cat dug its claw into my hand. I haven’t woken up so quickly since my husband announced that Trump had made it to the White House.

The lost hour is one downside of BST, which many people have been campaigning for as a year-round fixture. Those in that camp say an extra hour of sunlight on winter evenings will reduce crime, boost tourism, reduce traffic accidents and save energy among other things.

And well it might, but I for one don’t want our 101-year-old tradition to change. BST was first established by the Summer Time Act 1916 after being proposed by builder and keen horse-rider, William Willett who was incensed at the ‘waste’ of useful daylight first thing in the morning, during summer.

It lasts for seven months, which is long enough.

I can just about tolerate BST. There are some advantages - it is so much easier to plan your day with lighter nights. When we decide to go out, we always intend to leave the house around 10am, but by the time we’ve got up, had breakfast, pottered about and done various chores, it is usually closer to midday. And by then, we decide that we might as well save money by having lunch first. In winter this leaves us with between two and three hours daylight - hopeless for trips further afield, to the coast. In summer, when it is still light at 9pm, you can set off at lunchtime and still have a decent day out.

But I love dark nights. I like coming home from work, drawing the curtains, switching on the lamps, lighting the stove (another recent phenomenon) and settling down in front of the TV for the evening. It is too dark to do much else, whereas lighter nights coax you back outside to gardening jobs that are still outstanding from three years before.

On lighter nights you feel obliged to do things you would not otherwise consider: you might stick some washing in and hang it out while there’s still some heat in the sun; you may feel the urge to go for a stroll or wash the car…the list is endless. There is so much to do and while it is still light we might as well get stuck in.

In summer we don’t tend to sit down and relax until well into the evening. I remember as a child, my dad was still up ladders trimming creepers at 10pm, while my mother complained from indoors.

Many people come home from work and fire up the barbecue, creating extra work for themselves.

There is no doubt about it - BST is far more tiring. I definitely suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but not as most people know it. It’s only the start of spring yet already I am willing the clocks to go back and the dark nights to roll in.

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