It’s sad to say but British Summer Time (BST) in the UK is coming to a close. It wasn’t too bad, was it? On 27th October the clocks go back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and whilst the mornings temporarily get lighter, the nights instantly get darker earlier in the day. 

Along with the dark nights comes the theory that what follows is an increase in crime and burglaries, but is this actually the case? 

As a result of our research, we discovered that we can see that there is some correlation between an increase in burglaries and the dark night period between October and January.

 

UK Burglary Totals Year on Year

 

* Information courtesy of UKCrimeStats,

 

The graph above shows a pattern; an increase in burglaries creeping up in October / November for the period where there are dark nights relative to what has come before it earlier that year. 

2018 saw a significant drop in burglary crime at the beginning of the year, it crept up slightly as the year went on but still experienced a small spike in October and November.

 

There is some great advice available from Police.uk who advise that homeowners increase their home security during this period. Some of the advice they give is to:

 

Here’s our Duffells top recommend products to increase the security of a domestic property against burglary during the dark nights.

Tell us, what would you recommend to your customers to help them get ready for the dark nights?

How do you keep them informed about the true risk of burglary during this period and what suggestions do you give them for how they can better prepare and secure their premises during the dark night period?