Daylight saving time, better known as Summer time, started early on Sunday when clocks were moved forward by an hour.  

It is a twice-yearly routine which could soon be a thing of the past. The EU is moving fast on a proposal for each country to opt for a fixed time all year round, whether it is 'winter' or 'summer' time. 

An online consultation gathered 4.6 million responses from all 28 Member States.

More than 80 per cent wanted to abolish the EU's switch and favoured keeping the time used in summer for the whole year. A large majority of the Maltese also want to retain 'summer' time all year.

The European Parliament has backed the change and it is now up to national parliaments to decide which time each country will retain. 

Germany was the first country to introduce daylight saving time, in 1916, it in a bid to save energy during the First World War. Britain followed that same year.  Biannual clock changes became part of EU law in 1996.

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