Seven Pips - 01.00 BST 1st July 2015

At midnight GMT (0100 BST here in the UK), the planet gained an extra second. The dial on an atomic clock read 23:59:60 before ticking forward to 00.00.00. This last happened in 2012. On-air in the UK, the shift was neatly accommodated by an extra pip in the Greenwich Time Signal.

The addition of this “leap second” allows the Earth’s rotation, which is gradually slowing, to catch up with atomic clocks.

Some nations argue that the addition of these naughty seconds is posing an ever-growing problem to the many precision devices controlling important things. Another solution may be found – check out the meeting of the International Telcommunications Union this November and they’ll tell us.