Big Ben's clocks will be changed to GMT for the first time in five years

Dr.Santosh Kumar Sain
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Big Ben's clocks will be changed to GMT for the first time in five years
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Big Ben's clocks will be changed to GMT for the first time in five years


London landmark signaling the end of daylight saving time after extensive renovation and conservation

This weekend, the four faces of Big Ben will be changed for the first time in five years at Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

British Summer Time (BST) officially ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, with the clocks set back an hour, giving people an extra hour in bed or at parties.

The large clock on Elizabeth Tower, known as Big Ben, will be replaced early Sunday morning.

Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle said the clock change would "mark a new beginning" for the monument at the north end of Parliament House.

Over the weekend, the parliamentary team of clock mechanics will take 24 hours to ensure that all 2,000 clocks in the estate are turned in time for the clock to go back.

The Elizabeth Tower, clockwork, and bell mechanism have been in scaffolding for the past five years, while the largest maintenance work has been carried out in its 160-year history.

Hoyle said: "While others lie in their beds, our own father [watchmaker] Ian Westworth and his team will travel 8 miles changing our Parliamentary clock, including the watch we love most The Great Clock of Westminster, also known as Big Ben.

"For the first time in five years, they will be working with the full original Victorian watch movement, so this is an important final step in preserving this magnificent timepiece."

This will be the first time the clock has been changed to GMT since it was restored and installed on the tower earlier this year.

Fact that Big Ben is being moved to GMT, people will only know when the lights on its four dials go out at 22:00 on Saturday.

Parliamentary clock mechanic Alex Jeffery said: "It's because when people look up, they don't wonder why the hands are spinning and tangled.

"Under the cover of darkness, we actually stop the clock and hold it for two hours, restarting it only at midnight and turning on the dial backlight at 2 a.m., which is officially GMT."


The clock was designed and installed in 1859 with the goal of making the most accurate public clock in the world.

When the black paint was removed from the dials during a renovation last year, it was revealed that they were originally painted in a color known as Prussian Blue.

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