Turning back the wheel: London Eye reverses to mark end of British Summer Time
A group of competition winners experienced a first this morning, as the London Eye rotated in the opposite direction for an hour to mark the end of British Summer Time.
Ahead of the rotation, a light show transformed the attraction, which sits on the Southbank, into a giant clock, lighting up the London morning.
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It has been forty-seven years since the British Summer Time Act was created, launching the tradition of turning the clocks back an hour at the end of October.
Daylight Saving Time (DST) was reintroduced in the 1970s in an attempt to counteract a sequence of energy crises.
Clocks go back this Sunday, meaning there’s an extra hour in bed for all.
Despite this, the measure is far from universally popular. A YouGov poll in March found that just 44 per cent of the UK population think DST should continue to be implemented, with 39 per cent against.
In March, the European Parliament voted in favour of scrapping the compulsory practice of DST – meaning that Northern Ireland could soon find itself in a different time zone to the Republic of Ireland.
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Sunny Jouhal, General Manager at the London Eye, said: “We are proud to be world-famous for offering the most panoramic views of London and creating exciting moments for our guests, whilst also being an iconic part of the London skyline.
This year we wanted to mark the end of British Summer Time with an all-time first experience, rotating the London Eye in reverse to showcase the iconic view from a new perspective.”