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The changing daylight hours thread


Boydie

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Posted
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Sunny and blisteringly hot
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL

I agree. It does that to me too. it isn't ridiculous at all. It's related to hormonal activity in some people. So those who criticise us and say that it's just being silly to get a bit low in mood when the dark season arrives need to learn a thing or two about how the brain works

Seasonally affected disorder (or depression) results from the enhanced action of melatonin (a hormone controlling our response to circadian rhythms) and serotonin, a neurotransmitter.  The main player is serotonin, some people have low levels in the brain and a lack of serotonin can result in SAD or even worse, chronic clinical depression.  For SAD sufferers St.John's Wort often works well, however StJW must never be taken together with prescribed antidepressants (especially SSRIs) as doing so could lead to serotonin syndrome which can be fatal.

 

Light boxes are useful in winter, although they are expensive to buy.  I'm thinking of building myself one this autumn. If you are able to, fit lights that approximate daylight over your workplace. These aren't the standard bluish-white "daylight" lamps but ones whose spectra more resemble natural sunlight.

 

Edit: a typo and clarified the meaning of SAD

Edited by Wildswimmer Pete
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Posted
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Weather Preferences: Ample sunshine; Hot weather; Mixed winters with cold and mild spells
  • Location: Berlin, Germany

Still at least we get some daylight in those bleak months... Imagine Svalbard! Sunset in November and back in Feb!

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Posted
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: Cold & Snowy, Summer: Just not hot
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire

Still at least we get some daylight in those bleak months... Imagine Svalbard! Sunset in November and back in Feb!

 

I would love to experience that though, just to say I have. I applied for an 18 month job in Antarctica last year, and I was wondering what would be worse: Constant daylight or darkness?

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Posted
  • Location: Shepton Mallet 140m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, snow and summer heatwaves.
  • Location: Shepton Mallet 140m ASL

I would love to experience that though, just to say I have. I applied for an 18 month job in Antarctica last year, and I was wondering what would be worse: Constant daylight or darkness?

 

I'd love to try it at least once too and at least with 24 hours light you can just stick up the blackout curtains..  :D

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Posted
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Weather Preferences: Ample sunshine; Hot weather; Mixed winters with cold and mild spells
  • Location: Berlin, Germany

I'm thinking of going to Svalbard next year (in summer) to explore the place. I experienced near 24 hour daylight in Iceland but it's not quite far enough north for the midnight sun. 

My dream is to visit Antarctica but it not an easy one! Been avidly reading the diaries of Shackleton & Scott recently - so interesting! I'm very drawn to the ends of the Earth for whatever reason...

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Posted
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: Cold & Snowy, Summer: Just not hot
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire

I'd love to try it at least once too and at least with 24 hours light you can just stick up the blackout curtains..  :D

 

I don't know, I think it would soon drive you doolally.

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Posted
  • Location: Bedfordshire 33m above mean sea level
  • Weather Preferences: Snowy and thundery.
  • Location: Bedfordshire 33m above mean sea level

The thing is, Sept to the end of the year is my favourite time of the year, birthdays, wedding anni, halloween, november the 5th. .. so it makes up for it, never been a fan of the dark mornings.

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Posted
  • Location: Shrewsbury
  • Location: Shrewsbury

Pretty much dark at 9pm the last few nights, and not fully light till 6am.

Most of September has what I call "sociable" rise and set times, ie 6-7am and 7-8pm; light evenings but not light nights or wasted sunshine at 5am. The only trouble is it doesn't last long. We deny ourselves another go in March by moving the clocks forward too late, giving light mornings but annoying 6-6.30pm sunsets for weeks.

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Posted
  • Location: South Gloucestershire BS35
  • Weather Preferences: Severe weather enthusiast
  • Location: South Gloucestershire BS35

Just beginning to become more noticeable now with morning light more faded and evenings quickly drawing in earlier. Whilst the shorter days of winter can bring on a bit of a down feeling (especially if you work 8-4 office shifts where in mid winter you hardly notice daylight during the week at all). I think of some of my personal favourite 'bits' of the autumn/winter seasons to counter it

 

The colourful displays and nature's descent into slumber mode that autumn brings.

Observing atlantic storms trying to make their presence known with a bit of wild weather.

Coming in from the cold and whacking that heating on (bills permitting..haha) and getting a hot drink.

Crisp, frosty sunny days from that fresh polar air...and if I'm lucky enough to see some snow, the snowy scenes before it turns to muddy slush.

Then...it's a return to Spring with increasing daylight, new growth and the fresh smells that come with it.

 

The only thing that gets me down is if it's that constant grey cold weather where nothing happens for ages, or obviously persistent rain that endlessly lashes our shores...

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Posted
  • Location: Leeds
  • Weather Preferences: snow, heat, thunderstorms
  • Location: Leeds

Pretty much dark at 9pm the last few nights, and not fully light till 6am.

Most of September has what I call "sociable" rise and set times, ie 6-7am and 7-8pm; light evenings but not light nights or wasted sunshine at 5am. The only trouble is it doesn't last long. We deny ourselves another go in March by moving the clocks forward too late, giving light mornings but annoying 6-6.30pm sunsets for weeks.

September daylight is good - the sun is still up when most of us finish work and will usually be up or getting bright when we get ready for work. It's November when things get really depressing I think - when you wake up and it's pitch black, and you clock off and the sun has been down for 2 hours already.

 

The short daylight doesn't typically bother me at all, and when it's snowy, actually adds to the ambiance, but today I felt momentary dread. I thought to myself 'The sun will set at 3:45pm in December.. how on earth do we cope with that?', even though it's never crossed my mind before because it's normal to me.

 

 

Just beginning to become more noticeable now with morning light more faded and evenings quickly drawing in earlier. Whilst the shorter days of winter can bring on a bit of a down feeling (especially if you work 8-4 office shifts where in mid winter you hardly notice daylight during the week at all). I think of some of my personal favourite 'bits' of the autumn/winter seasons to counter it

 

The colourful displays and nature's descent into slumber mode that autumn brings.

Observing atlantic storms trying to make their presence known with a bit of wild weather.

Coming in from the cold and whacking that heating on (bills permitting..haha) and getting a hot drink.

Crisp, frosty sunny days from that fresh polar air...and if I'm lucky enough to see some snow, the snowy scenes before it turns to muddy slush.

Then...it's a return to Spring with increasing daylight, new growth and the fresh smells that come with it.

 

The only thing that gets me down is if it's that constant grey cold weather where nothing happens for ages, or obviously persistent rain that endlessly lashes our shores...

That's why I prefer starting early in the morning (like 6am) and finishing in the early afternoon (around 2) - at least then you have more of the day to enjoy and in winter will get to enjoy some day light.

Edited by cheese
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Posted
  • Location: Keyingham, East Yorkshire
  • Weather Preferences: Spanish plumes, hot and sunny with thunderstorms
  • Location: Keyingham, East Yorkshire

The sun in my eyes when im sat at my desk in the morning is a sure sign of the shortening days. Come winter, It will be very welcome after walking to work in the cold and the wind.

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Posted
  • Location: Abingdon, Oxon
  • Location: Abingdon, Oxon

Pretty much dark at 9pm the last few nights, and not fully light till 6am.

Most of September has what I call "sociable" rise and set times, ie 6-7am and 7-8pm; light evenings but not light nights or wasted sunshine at 5am. The only trouble is it doesn't last long. We deny ourselves another go in March by moving the clocks forward too late, giving light mornings but annoying 6-6.30pm sunsets for weeks.

 

Why do we have it lopsided like that in the UK? In Autumn we move the clocks in the last weekend of October, which is 5/6 weeks after the equinox but in Spring we do it the last weekend of March, which is a week after the equinox rather than 5/6 weeks before it. Surely we should move the clocks the first week of March (or last of Feb) instead. Do we need an extra hour of early morning daylight in March to melt the frost on our windscreens for us before we go out, instead of having it in the evening like September/October?

 

EDIT: OK it seems we have to keep our clock changing dates in line with other EU countries but that means all countries have a discrepancy between Autumn and Spring.

Edited by audiotech
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Why do we have it lopsided like that in the UK? In Autumn we move the clocks in the last weekend of October, which is 5/6 weeks after the equinox but in Spring we do it the last weekend of March, which is a week after the equinox rather than 5/6 weeks before it. Surely we should move the clocks the first week of March (or last of Feb) instead. Do we need an extra hour of early morning daylight in March to melt the frost on our windscreens for us before we go out?

in a country that doesn't do anything right ,it won't happen :(..
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Posted
  • Location: Abingdon, Oxon
  • Location: Abingdon, Oxon

Taking London as an example, the sunrise time gets to 7:39am on the day before we change the clocks back in October this year. In March the sunrise time got to 5:46am the day before we changed the clocks forward. If we had done the clock change on the first Sunday of March this year instead the sunrise time would have been changed from the 6:47am we actually had to 7:47am. So we should move our Spring clock change to the first weekend of March to make it roughly proportional to the Autumn clock change in terms of sunrise times.

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Taking London as an example, the sunrise time gets to 7:39am on the day before we change the clocks back in October this year. In March the sunrise time got to 5:46am the day before we changed the clocks forward. If we had done the clock change on the first Sunday of March this year instead the sunrise time would have been changed from the 6:47am we actually had to 7:47am. So we should move our Spring clock change to the first weekend of March to make it roughly proportional to the Autumn clock change in terms of sunrise times.

been saying that for years ,some usable daylight :) do you not sleep ,I'm in California , lol ..
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Posted
  • Location: Near King's Lynn 13.68m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Hoar Frost, Snow, Misty Autumn mornings
  • Location: Near King's Lynn 13.68m ASL

I don't know if it's ever been an official consideration, but one consequence of the way we have it currently is that kids go to and come home from school in daylight all year round.

Edited by Yarmy
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Posted
  • Location: Codicote, Hertfordshire
  • Location: Codicote, Hertfordshire

I think our times are fine as they are personally.

Yup.

It would be wrong if things changed. Imo.

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Posted
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: Cold & Snowy, Summer: Just not hot
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire

Changing the clocks is discussed every year, but nothing ever changes and it never will in my opinion. I'm glad though, I think the system we have is fine as it is. We get so little daylight in mid-winter that there will never be a perfect scenario.

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Posted
  • Location: halifax 125m
  • Weather Preferences: extremes the unusual and interesting facts
  • Location: halifax 125m

Yes daylight sure is wasted on a morning in March particularly but unfortunately it is not going to change am not sure of the real reason except  the 6 farmers getting their kids to school in Stornoway.A shame for the ordinary 9 to 5 person but not too bad for me now as I start very early most of the time but would still prefer bst in winter and double summertime!!

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Posted
  • Location: Stockport
  • Location: Stockport

Changing the clocks is discussed every year, but nothing ever changes and it never will in my opinion. I'm glad though, I think the system we have is fine as it is. We get so little daylight in mid-winter that there will never be a perfect scenario.

Agreed. The way some people go on you'd think we could magic some extra daylight by simply changing the clock.

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Posted
  • Location: halifax 125m
  • Weather Preferences: extremes the unusual and interesting facts
  • Location: halifax 125m

Agreed. The way some people go on you'd think we could magic some extra daylight by simply changing the clock.

Not sure which comment said' we could magic up some extra daylight' from ?

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