Jewish groups have responded to a European Parliament ruling to abolish Daylight Savings Time from 2021, which means EU member states will have to decide whether to stay permanently on winter time, or an hour later, on summer time.

If the UK ends up staying in the EU, or if Prime Minister Theresa May passes a Brexit deal — which would involve an extended transition period — the law change would apply to Britain as well.

A United Synagogue spokesperson said that staying on British Summer Time all year round would mean “sunrise in the winter would be as late as 9.07am in London, and even later in northern England and Scotland.

“As a result, communities would not be able to begin shacharit until about 8am, making it almost impossible for people who need to be at their desks in the morning or drop children off at school. This would pose a real risk to the viability of many minyanim. People saying kaddish for a loved one might be particularly distressed.”

Staying on winter time would mean “two major benefits. Shabbat would not come in so late, allowing more families with young children to enjoy Friday night dinner together before putting them to sleep. Shabbat would also go out earlier, again allowing more people to participate in Havdallah, particularly in northern England and Scotland.”

However, the Beth Din acknowledged the necessity of being “mindful of changes to the wider community”.

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the Conference of European Rabbis, said that in Europe it would be more “manageable if countries keep to winter times”.