Daylight Saving Time 2026: When the Clocks Go Back

In the UK and the rest of Europe: this Sunday, October 25, 2026. In the UK and Ireland the clocks go back from 2:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m., ending British Summer Time and returning to GMT; in Paris, Berlin or Madrid it is 3:00 a.m. back to 2:00 a.m. In the US and most of Canada the clocks go back a week later, on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 2:00 a.m. local time. Phones and computers update on their own. Sources: timeanddate, European Commission.

In the United States, daylight saving time ends on Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 2:00 a.m., when clocks fall back to 1:00 a.m. and standard time returns, for example EST on the East Coast and PST on the West Coast. It does not apply in Hawaii or most of Arizona. Despite the House vote in July, the Sunshine Protection Act has not passed the Senate, so this change goes ahead. Sources: timeanddate, Congress.gov.

On two different Sundays, depending on where you are. Europe and the United Kingdom: Sunday, October 25, 2026. The United States and most of Canada: Sunday, November 1, 2026. Both move the clock back one hour, so both gain an hour of sleep, just a week apart. Sources: timeanddate, Forbes.

Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 2:00 a.m. local time, when clocks go back to 1:00 a.m. The rule has been the first Sunday in November since the 2005 Energy Policy Act took effect in 2007. It applies in every state except Hawaii and most of Arizona, which never move. Source: timeanddate.

Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 2:00 a.m. BST, when the clocks go back to 1:00 a.m. and the UK returns to Greenwich Mean Time for the winter. British Summer Time resumes on the last Sunday of March 2027, which is March 28, 2027. Sources: timeanddate, Forbes.

Sunday, October 25, 2026, on the same instant across the EU, which lands at a different wall-clock time in each zone. Western European Time, including the UK, Ireland and Portugal: 2:00 goes back to 1:00. Central European Time, including France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland: 3:00 goes back to 2:00. Eastern European Time, including Greece, Finland and Romania: 4:00 goes back to 3:00. Sources: timeanddate, Forbes.

Because they legislated separately and never lined the dates up. The EU fixed its change to the last Sunday in October; the United States moved its own to the first Sunday in November with the 2005 Energy Policy Act, effective 2007. In most years that leaves a one-week window where the usual time difference between the two continents is an hour smaller than normal. In 2026 that window is October 25 to November 1.

You gain one. The autumn change repeats an hour, so the night is 25 hours long and you get an hour more sleep. The cost is the evenings: sunset jumps an hour earlier the same day, which is the part people actually notice. The reverse happens in spring, when an hour disappears.

It is closer than it has been, but it is not law. The House passed the Sunshine Protection Act (H.R. 139) on July 14, 2026 by 308 votes to 117, a wide bipartisan margin. The bill went to the Senate on July 15 and was referred to the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, where it currently sits. President Trump has backed it, arguing the twice-yearly switch costs households, cities and states money for no return, and renewed the call on Truth Social in August 2026. In the Senate it needs 60 votes; Majority Leader John Thune has said it is unclear it can get there, and Senator Tom Cotton leads the opposition. The Senate adjourned in early October for the midterm campaign without a vote and, according to WTVB, is not due back in Washington until November 9, after the November 3 election and after the clocks have already gone back. Sources: Congress.gov, The Hill, NBC News, TIME, WTVB.

Yes, on both sides of the Atlantic, unless new laws pass. In the United States the clocks go forward on March 14, 2027 and back on November 7, 2027. In the EU, the Commission published the official summer-time periods through 2031 in March 2026: in 2027 summer time runs from March 28 to October 31. The UK follows the same dates as the EU. Sources: timeanddate, European Commission.

At 2:00 a.m. in the UK and Ireland on Sunday, October 25, 2026, when the time becomes 1:00 a.m. GMT. In Central Europe (Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Rome) it happens at the same instant, which is 3:00 a.m. local time, back to 2:00 a.m. In the US and most of Canada nothing happens this weekend: the change there is at 2:00 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 1. Sources: timeanddate, European Commission.

From October 25, 2026, London is on GMT (UTC+0) and Paris, Berlin and Madrid are on CET (UTC+1). New York stays on EDT (UTC-4) until November 1, then moves to EST (UTC-5); Los Angeles goes from PDT (UTC-7) to PST (UTC-8) the same day. So at noon in London during the week of October 25, it is 1:00 p.m. in Paris, 8:00 a.m. in New York and 5:00 a.m. in Los Angeles. From November 1, noon in London is 7:00 a.m. in New York and 4:00 a.m. in Los Angeles. Source: timeanddate.

Yes, if automatic time is switched on, which is the default. iPhones (Settings, General, Date & Time, Set Automatically) and Android phones (Automatic date and time) switch at the exact moment, overnight, with no action needed. If you set the time zone manually, for example while travelling, the phone may not adjust, so check that setting. Ovens, microwaves, older car dashboards and wall clocks still need changing by hand. Smart speakers and computers update from the network like phones.

Most of Canada does, but not British Columbia. Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces fall back at 2:00 a.m. local time on November 1, like the US. British Columbia moved to permanent year-round time (UTC-7) in 2026: the spring change on March 8, 2026 was its last, so its clocks stay put on November 1, and Vancouver will be an hour ahead of Seattle all winter. Communities in southeastern BC that follow Alberta, such as Cranbrook and Golden, keep changing. Saskatchewan and Yukon already did not change. Sources: BC Gov News, timeanddate.

Not in most of the country. Mexico abolished daylight saving time with a law passed in 2022; the last change for most of the country was on October 30, 2022, and Mexico City stays on UTC-6 all year. The exception is the northern border: Baja California and border municipalities of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, such as Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez and Nuevo Laredo, still follow the US schedule and fall back on November 1, 2026. Sources: Ley de los Husos Horarios (DOF), Uno TV.

No. After the House passed it 308 to 117 in July 2026, the bill was referred to the Senate Commerce Committee and has not reached the floor. It needs 60 votes, Majority Leader John Thune has said it is unclear it can get them, and Senator Tom Cotton opposes it, citing the 1974 experiment with year-round daylight time that was reversed after a public backlash. In October 2026 Thune told POLITICO there is "no clear path forward or consensus on it yet", and the Senate adjourned for the midterm campaign in early October without acting. Sources: Congress.gov, Fox News, WTVB, TIME.

It would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide, locking the country onto the time it currently keeps from March to November rather than onto standard winter time. States that wanted to stay on permanent standard time would have to exempt themselves before it took effect. The practical result would be later sunrises in midwinter and no more clock changes in either direction. Source: Congress.gov.

Not in 2026, and possibly not at all in its current form. The Commission proposed ending seasonal changes in 2018 and the European Parliament voted for it in March 2019, but the Council never agreed a position, because member states could not settle on whether to keep permanent summer or permanent winter time and how to avoid a patchwork of time zones across neighbouring countries. In spring 2025 the Commission signalled it might withdraw the file, but it has not done so: Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez asked the Council in October 2025 to end the changes from 2026, Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said the Commission had not given up, and in February 2026 the Commission launched a new impact study (Ecorys, Capgemini, Stratec, CE Delft) due by the end of 2026. A Council note from June 2026 still describes the file as stalled, and as of October 21, 2026 the study's results had not been published, so the October 25 change goes ahead everywhere in the EU. Sources: Council of the EU, European Parliament, European Commission, eldiario.es.

Hawaii and most of Arizona, where the Navajo Nation is the exception and does observe it. Among the territories, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands stay on standard time all year. Everywhere else in the United States changes twice a year. Source: timeanddate.

The United States: Sunday, March 14, 2027, the second Sunday in March. The EU and the UK: Sunday, March 28, 2027, the last Sunday in March. That is a two-week gap in spring, longer than the one-week gap in autumn, because the two rules are anchored differently at each end.

Yes, this week. Normally London is five hours ahead of New York. Between October 25 and November 1, 2026 the UK has already gone back to GMT while the US East Coast is still on daylight time, so the gap narrows to four hours: noon in London is 8:00 a.m. in New York. It returns to five on November 1. The same one-hour squeeze applies between Paris, Berlin or Madrid and the US East Coast.

To save fuel in wartime. Germany and Austria-Hungary adopted it first, in April 1916, to cut coal use for lighting, and Britain and much of Europe followed within weeks. The United States adopted it in 1918, repealed it, then reinstated it in the Second World War and again with the 1966 Uniform Time Act. The energy argument that justified it has been disputed for decades, which is most of why the policy keeps coming back up.

Most of the world, in fact. Japan, China, India, Russia, Turkey and almost all of Africa, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East do not change their clocks. Countries near the equator gain almost nothing from it, because day length barely varies. Where it is used, it is concentrated in Europe, North America, and parts of the southern hemisphere such as Chile, Paraguay, New Zealand and southeastern Australia, which change in the opposite months.