Well, that’s Hallowe'en over and already there are some among us who are getting set up for Christmas.

I personally feel it’s a little excessive but then again, the shops have been trying to get us in the spirit of things for weeks now.

Santa is set to start making his way into shopping centres up and down the country and the Christmas lights are primed and up on the lampposts, waiting for their moment to shine. I have to admit, I don’t mind when the festive lights go on before December – they really brighten up the streets and even the most rotten of weather doesn’t seem quite so bad.

Now that the clocks have been turned back an hour, it gets darker all the faster in the evenings. There are days when it doesn’t seem to brighten up at all and it’s murky from the moment you wake up until you’re collapsing back into your bed. It’s enough to make anyone feel a little miserable so to see merrily coloured twinkling lights ahead in the distance is a welcome sight.

Don’t get me wrong. I love it when the clocks go back. There are even some people that count it as their favourite weekend in the whole year. That extra hour is a welcome gift and has so much potential although most people opt for the most basic and blissful use: enjoying an extra hour all cosied up in bed exploring the land of nod.

Of course, the excitement is forgotten in March when we have to time travel again and this time have to sacrifice an hour. Even though we all know it’s coming, it seems to knock so many people out of sync for a few days as they become reacquainted with ample daylight.

The idea of saving daylight is more than a century old, with the idea brought about as a measure to save energy and resources by burning less coal. Back then, it may have been necessary, but nowadays, studies have shown that the energy savings are minute.

Interestingly, research has also shown that going through the time warp can play havoc with some people’s health. Many report bouts of insomnia in the days and weeks after the clocks change as they are trying to fight with the natural circadian rhythm of their bodies. It’s a bit like getting jetlag, but there’s no exciting holiday there to make it seem worth it.

A study in 2012 found that instances of heart attacks rose by 10 per cent in the days after the clocks went back in March. That’s a pretty hefty price to pay for a wee bit more light in the evenings.

When you think about it, it’s a very strange system we have going on. To be able to manipulate time sounds like something from a futuristic movie, but here we are doing it twice a year. Even more intriguing is that while we did it nearly two weeks ago, parts of America only changed their clocks on Sunday past.

Other states don’t change theirs at this point because they observe ‘Standard Time’ rather than ‘Daylight Saving Time’ and so won’t be touching their clocks until next March. They already have differing time zones across the country so to add in changing the clocks must make for some confusing scheduling in the days after they spring forward or fall back.

It’s pretty comical to think that you might have to adjust your watch by crossing into another jurisdiction but actually, it may become a reality for us.

The EU is proposing that we start leaving our clocks alone to just do their own thing and scrap daylight saving time, leaving this coming March the last time they go forward.

It would appear this this proposal is a popular one, with a public consultation finding more than 80 per cent of citizens across all EU member states in favour of ending our bi-annual time travel. Each member state could decide whether they wanted to adopt the summer or winter time scheme and would keep to that time zone for the rest of eternity. Or until their government decided to switch over to the other.

However, it is reported that the UK as a member state isn’t too keen on this notion and is trying to convince the EU to stick with the status quo. It’s not really such a big issue as Brexit will theoretically have been formally recognised by the time these proposals are implemented. That means we can still enjoy the mental stress of either fighting with the clock in the car or just having to remember that it’s an hour out for six months of the year.

A comedic reality perhaps, but what is even more amusing is that we could be in a different time zone than Ireland. Perhaps this is the big solution to the border problem. We don’t need to worry about time consuming inspections. Just ask the driver what time they think it is and that’ll tell you everything you need to know.

But seriously. Are we going to have people driving across the border to grab some bread because the local shop in the North has closed for the night but the one half a mile down is still open? Will we take on another ‘special status’ because of our geographical facts and somehow keep time with Ireland but be off kilter with mainland Britain while still claiming to be a ‘united’ Kingdom?

Maybe I’m in the minority but for once I find myself agreeing with our government. We’re further from the equator than most other EU states so we see the stark change. Without the clocks changing, the sun in Scotland wouldn’t be seen until 10am in the winter. It doesn’t matter how many pretty lights you have up then: no-one is going to enjoy that as a reality.