Big Ben clock returns to GMT for the first time in five years | Palace of Westminster

All four faces of Big Ben will return to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) this weekend for the first time in five years.

British Summer Time (BST) Officially ends at 2am on Sundayand the clock goes back one hour, allowing people to spend an extra hour in bed or an extra hour at a party.

Elizabeth Tower’s grand clock, Big Ben, also known as the Bell, changes early Sunday morning.

Lord Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, said the clock change “heralded a new beginning” for the landmark at the northern end of the Houses of Parliament.

A team of congressional clock mechanics spends a total of 24 hours over the weekend to ensure that all 2,000 clocks throughout the estate are replaced in time for the clocks to be put back together.

A clockwork and bell mechanism, the Elizabeth Tower has been covered with scaffolding for the past five years during the largest restoration and preservation operation in its 160-year history.

Hoyle said: Westminster clock known as Big Ben.

“They will be working with the watch’s original Victorian mechanism complete for the first time in five years, so it’s an important final moment in the preservation of this fine timepiece.”

It is the first time the clock has been set back to GMT since it was restored and installed in the tower earlier this year.

When the lights on the four dials go out at 10pm on Saturday, people will only notice that Big Ben has changed to GMT.

Congressional Watchmaker Alex Jeffrey said:

“Under cover of darkness, we effectively stop the clock, hold it for two hours, and then restart at midnight to reactivate the lights on the dial at 2:00 am, the official GMT.”

This clock was designed and installed in 1859 with the aim of creating the most accurate public clock in the world.

Last year’s repair work stripped the black paint off the dial, revealing that it was originally painted in a color called Prussian blue.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/oct/29/big-ben-clock-to-be-turned-back-to-gmt-for-first-time-in-five-years Big Ben clock returns to GMT for the first time in five years | Palace of Westminster

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