Russian clocks will be turned back one hour at 3 in the morning on Sunday, October 26.

Kuranty - the tower clock that dominates Red Square, will be put back manually, the Kremlin press service said on Wednesday. At first the chimes and the controls will be stopped and then the hands of the clock will be put back with the help of a special key.

Turning the clocks back one hour at the end of October occurs in 101 countries.

The whole idea of ‘summer time' and ‘winter time' is connected with the idea of energy consumption. Daylight saving time (DST) - that is how it's called in English terminology - was first proposed by the English builder William Willet, and though the practice was quite controversial many countries continue to follow the system.

In 1930, the Soviet government  announced that the clocks in summer would be moved forward one hour in the spring - so the daylight substitutes for the electric light for a longer period of time. In 1981, the changes in time became even more serious for Russians - the government's decision was to adjust the clocks forward one more hour to save more energy. In 1991, Russia set its time according to winter/summer time, with a 1-hour difference between them.