Every Second Counts

Computer chaos expected as extra second is added to the clock today.

19:10 30 June 2015

An extra second will be added to the clock today, June 30. Known as “leap second” it may cause a Y2K-type problem for computers.  

 

Leap seconds, which are the result when the Earth rotates a bit slowly causing a delay, are extremely rare. However, they are officially added to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to make the world’s clock as accurate as possible. 

 

Unfortunately, computers are programmed to count just 60 seconds per minute, and not 61. This can affect computer systems around the world, potentially leading to outages, problems with utilities, navigation and communication systems. 

 

The leap second will take place in the UK at just before midnight UTC. Instead of ticking from 00:59:59 to 01:00:00, the clock goes to 00.59:60 before moving into the next hour. 

 

Leap seconds were first introduced in 1972 and so far, there have been already 25 of them. The last one was in 2012 and it caused widespread problems. Major websites including Reddit, LinkedIn, Yelp, Mozilla and The Pirate Bay suffered problems. Australian airline Qantas' check-in system was also out of action for 16 hours.