One in the morning is the hour the British clock changes actually happen. On the last Sunday of March the clocks jump forward from 1 am straight to 2 am, so this hour simply does not exist that night; on the last Sunday of October they go back at 2 am and the hour between one and two runs twice.
On any ordinary night it is a quiet stretch. Pubs have called time, kitchens have shut, and the taxi ranks outside city centres are at their busiest as everyone tries to get home at once. Late-night radio and the smaller hospital departments carry on regardless.
People counting towards 1 am are usually working a shift that ends around then, waiting up for a delayed flight or a distant kick-off, or setting a reminder to take something out of a slow oven. The wait resets every twenty-four hours, so it is never a long one.
Common questions
What happens to 1 am when the clocks change?
In late March the clocks jump from 1 am to 2 am, so the hour is skipped; in late October the hour between 1 and 2 runs twice.
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