The clocks went back an hour overnight, marking the end of British Summer Time (BST, UTC+1) and the start of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT, UTC+0). Some clocks adjusted themselves automatically. Others needed a helping hand.

The two most noticeable clocks in the town centre were telling different times this morning. St Helen’s Church clock had not yet been put back, while St Nicolas’ Church clock had been adjusted. St Helens still depends on somebody making the change. St Nicolas may be automatic.

Monday’s sunshine had given way to rain by Tuesday. It rained through much of the night and the day.

On West St Helen Street, puddles gathered in the familiar places. They have been absent for the dry summer.

On Wednesday, the rain continued but not so heavily. Leaves like golden coins were scattered across the pavements in Station Approach. Autumn has a way of decorating the town.

Fallen leaves start to gather on the Market Place.

The heating has turned itself on – a sign that temperatures have dropped.

There was a different sort of chill today when a warning appeared telling me that this blog would stop working in six hours unless I installed a new security certificate. I tried but a computer somewhere did not like it. For a while, it looked as though the blog might stop working but then I got beyond the AI bot to a real person called Emily on the help desk who had some updated instructions, and the blog lives on for another night and day.

The crochet toppers are gone from the railings on St Helen Wharf, but there was some snow this morning. It was already crisp by the time I trod on it, and so probably fell earlier in the night. It lay thinly along the pavement rather than on the road.

Birds flew over, hopeful of food, at the Wilsham Road feeding area. The brightest patch of sky was south of east. The sun always rises somewhere in the east, but the point shifts through the year, from well south of east in winter to well north of east in summer.