I always get confused when it comes time to either starting or finishing daylight saving. Which way do I need to change the clocks? For most readers this is not a problem at all, but for me I am never completely sure I have done it correctly. Thank heavens for my iPhone.

Having lived in Queensland for more than five years, I have not had to do anything regarding time changes, except that is to make a note of what time it is in NSW and the ACT where some of my children live.

At 3am this morning 31st March, the clocks in France went forward an hour and they are to stay like that until the last Sunday in October.

How I got caught this time was that yesterday evening Mick and I adjusted the time on the heated towel rail in our bathroom. And, we did add one hour – we were on the right track. We know that the cheapest power in this part of France is available between midnight and 8am, and we did not want the towel rail on outside that timeframe. What we did not realise was that this towel rail was already set up to add the extra hour in the early hours of 31 March, and so when I got up early in the morning to visit the bathroom, I saw that the towel rail said 5.10am, but in fact the new time was 4.10am, but the previous night it would have been 3.10am.

See how confusing it is.

But this is almost the last time that countries in the European Union will be changing their clocks forwards or backwards. In fact, next year, 2021 will be the last time.

The European Union has voted to have its member countries select either the daylight saving time or the other time (let’s call it normal time) and stick to it.

At the moment there are three time zones in the European Union – Western European Time (Ireland, Portugal, UK), Central European Time (17 Member States) and Eastern European Time (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania).

Our hosts here in the Auvergne had told us that there is to be a vote in France to choose which timezone is preferred, and from 2022 that will become the consistent time zone for France. What this will look like inside the EU from then will very much depend on how each country decides to have its time measured.

But what of the UK ? And how will this pan out with Brexit? If and when it is finalised. We will have to wait and see.

But last night at 5.00pm, this is how Mick and the dogs were enjoying the weather.

And the view from here.