Eight in the evening is when the amateur sporting calendar runs. Padel courts, five-a-side pitches and running clubs almost all schedule their sessions between eight and ten, because that is when the temperature is bearable for eight months of the year and comfortable for the other four.
It is also the hour the restaurants fill and the shopping centres reach their evening peak, which makes the roads busier at eight in the evening than at many points in the afternoon.
For households it is dinner and the last stretch of family time before the school-night bedtime sequence starts. A countdown to eight o'clock is generally about a booking, a court slot or a table, and it resets every day rather than pointing at a particular evening.
In winter it is also when the outdoor events calendar is at full volume — night markets, concerts and floodlit fixtures all running at once — which is why the roads towards them are busier at eight than they were at six.
Common questions
Why do sports sessions start at 8 pm?
Because that is when the temperature becomes bearable for most of the year, which is why courts and pitches here are floodlit as a matter of course.
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