The changing daylight hours thread

[Summer8906]

3 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

Yes Light Sunday on the way, psychologically for me the affect is far less than the dark Sunday one.. you don't notice as much a change from going dark at 8pm compared to 7pm, than going dark at 4.30pm compared to 5.30pm.

I do agree that Dark Sunday is more drastic, but an extension of daylight beyond 7pm is quite a big thing psychologically and, providing the weather plays ball, is quite significant. Post-7pm daylight always suggests "summer" to me, in the same way that pre-5pm twilight suggests "winter".

[damianslaw]

 Summer8906 I agree it still has a large impact and makes evenings far more useable, but to me it doesn't quite have the same effect as the sudden dark that sets in on dark Sunday. There is a sudden winter state of mind affect, that frankly in late October nobody is ready for, especially if there has been barely any autumnal feel as happens nowadays, christmas takes over as well. 

 

[Summer8906]

 damianslaw I do agree. The "downer" of Dark Sunday is definitely greater than the "upper" of Light Sunday.

The fact that sunset goes to silly-early (i.e pre-5pm) just two months after full summer is a sudden shock.

Whereas now, at the end of GMT, sunset is already after 6pm, so at a reasonably sane time.

Edited March 29 by Summer8906

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 Summer8906 If we're talking about gloom then 12!!!

[ChillyJuju]

1:00am marked the beginning of DST.

GMT is one day closer

[Macc2023]

Have to say i must be the only one in the world that hates it when we change to BST.

I so look forward to when the days are getting shorter.

[markyo]

2 hours ago, Macc2023 said:

Have to say i must be the only one in the world that hates it when we change to BST.

I so look forward to when the days are getting shorter.

You certainly are not the only one mate, many feel the same way. I liken it to staring up the steep slope of a dark mountain this time of year, June the 20/21st is the peak. The next 12 or so weeks for so many are the worst of the year by far, i easily find this time of year the most depressing by far.

[TheOgre]

The lighter hour didn’t feel that good today unfortunately being so dark and bleak out. Feels like midwinter.

[Catherine91]

 TheOgre I barely noticed the extra hour of daylight either. Today should be better here as it's turned out partly sunny.

[TheOgre]

 Catherine91  Yes it was much better last night and felt noticeably spring like

[Summer8906]

Main period I notice the difference is between 5-7.30pm, the later part of this time for very obvious reasons but even at 5pm if the weather's anything other than dull it almost seems like midday light, rather than "evening-ish". Which is nice.

I'm glad we've lost the silly early sunrises too, for now. I was waking up way too early...

Edited April 3 by Summer8906

[cheeky_monkey]

 Summer8906 love early sunrises i get up at 5am everyday...cant wait for the best time of the year and the best time of the day 

[Summer8906]

 cheeky_monkey Fair enough. Only time I'm up at 5am is when I have to catch a flight....

[Wynn D Woo]

 Summer8906  yeah getting light before 6.30am is a complete waste of daylight, far more useful having lighter evenings when most people are out and about and have things to do. Much better for the tourism and leisure sector too i would have thought...

[cheeky_monkey]

getting light on my early morning walks now..dawn is just breaking on the horizon when i leave the house and its almost fully light by the time i get home..this time next week i pass the point of sunrise before i get back.

Edited April 18 by cheeky_monkey

[cheeky_monkey]

noticed it was still light here when i went to bed at 9.30pm last night

[Summer8906]

It was about 2 weeks ago now that I detected daylight at 9pm for the first time. This was followed by the first sighting of the sun beyond 8pm a few days later (yes, we did have a number of sunny evenings last week). When this happens it really feels like you're going into the lightest time of the year.

Shame it's so dull though.

On the other hand the mornings are now too light, again. Got up at 7am this morning, thinking it was later as it seemed to have already been light for ages. Whereas I like light evenings, I find that overly-early dawns (i.e. sunrise before 6am) disrupt sleep.

Maybe there's a case for double-DST from the last Sunday in April until the last Saturday in August. Only problem would be a sudden plunge into darker evenings in early September, which would make early September always feel unambiguously like autumn even if the weather was fine.

Edited Friday at 19:16 by Summer8906

[damianslaw]

A run of fine clear evenings here is resulting in extended daylight until 9pm and later. We are hurtling headstrong into the lightest part of the year, evenings in May have same light levels almost akin to July and give a summer feel to proceedings. Its remarkable how the feel of everything changes from now through to late May, which by then is near peak light, it also adds to a sense must make plans and the most of the light, it will be the solstice before we know it.

Edited Friday at 19:14 by damianslaw

[Azazel]

 Summer8906 au contraire, I love the light mornings.

It’s wonderful gently waking up and thinking ‘oh it must be nearly time to get up’ then looking at your phone and realising you have another 2 hours still. Roll over and go back to sleep. Bliss.

 

Stark contrast to Winter when the obnoxious sound of my alarm wakes me up in the dark 

[WYorksWeather]

Some work days I'm up around 6am so it's been great the past couple of weeks to be waking up in daylight. Lighter evenings are brilliant as well. Unfortunately not been able to make as much use of them as I'd like as they've been very cold!

For me, the arrival of summer is the first evening I can go somewhere after work and it's still warm enough to sit out in shorts and a T shirt. Rarely happens before mid to late May here.

[damianslaw]

 WYorksWeather Yes there comes a turning point about third week of May, by then the sun is as strong as in late July and even if temps are mid teens at best under light winds and full sun it feels every bit summer to me by then thanks to the long light. Same with third week of Nov feels we are plunged firmly into winter thanks to weak sun and low light even if temps still into the teens. 

Edited Friday at 22:28 by damianslaw

[WYorksWeather]

 damianslaw Which is of course why some of the late season warm spells feel so odd. September 2023 being perhaps the weirdest major heatwave I've ever experienced. Such an incredibly warm week, one day after another, and yet simultaneously incredibly weird with sunset before 8pm, and the sun at the 'wrong' angle for that sort of heat, and yet it happened anyway.

The few times we get notable warmth in October are even weirder, of course.

Anyway, back to daylight hours so as not to derail things - at my location today (Saturday now) will be the first day with sunset at 8.30pm or later. Other milestones coming up soon include the first 15 hour day (Monday).

[Weather Enthusiast91]

Sunset time approaching 8:30pm now for this neck of the woods. The same as it would be in mid August.

 

Edited Saturday at 00:16 by Weather Enthusiast91

[Catherine91]

Driving back home at about 9pm this past Thursday felt strange as I could see the last scraps of daylight but the temperature was like winter!

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 Catherine91 It is really weird!! Wearing my winter coat and scarf in the garden today.