Lights out at Nationwide as part of Earth Hour

Millions of people and companies across the globe took part in the annual event, which sees towns and cities across the planet plunged into darkness for an hour.

In a Mexican wave of commitment across the globe, the lights first went out in Samoa, and Tahiti was the last to switch off the lights.

Between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on Saturday, the Piper’s Way building society switched off its non-essential lighting for an hour to show its commitment to tackling climate change.

Stephen Uden, the head of citizenship at Nationwide, said: “We’re working to do our bit to tackle climate change and took part in this year’s WWF-organised Earth Hour as a demonstration of how seriously we’re taking this commitment.

“We joined millions of people around the world in turning out the lights across key Nationwide locations, including our head office in Swindon.

“It’s a fantastic display of unity and highlights how we can all make a difference – starting with the flick of a light switch.”

The phenomenon has been growing every year since it was first launched ion 2007, with more and more countries signing up over the years. This year, 172 countries and territories took part.

People chose to spend their dark hour in a variety of different ways, including a dinner party by candlelight, playing board games, practicing yoga and even stargazing.

Earth Hour was also an opportunity to remind people of the importance of taking time to think about the planet and help raise awareness of various causes to slow the speed of climate change.

Rachel Bloodworth, the head of public engagement at WWF-UK, said: “Earth Hour is so much more than one hour of activity and it has grown into the world’s largest environmental event, driving awareness and positive action for the protection of the planet.”

Next year’s celebrations are already planned for the same time on March 19, 2016.

For more information on Earth Hour, log on to www.earthhour.org.