When Do the Clocks Change? UK, Europe and US Rules

Twice a year, a surprising number of grown adults stand in front of the oven trying to remember which button changes the clock. Then they spend a week arriving at things an hour early or an hour late, and blaming it on the weekend.

The rules for when the clocks change are actually simple. They're just different depending on where you live, which is where most of the confusion comes from.

The UK and Europe

In the UK and across the European Union, the clocks change on the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October.

What's neat about the European system is that everyone changes at the same moment, 01:00 UTC, regardless of their time zone. In the UK that's 1am, when the clocks jump forward to 2am in spring. In autumn, it's 2am British Summer Time, when they drop back to 1am. In Paris and Berlin, the change happens an hour later on the local clock, but it's the same instant.

The easiest way to remember the direction is the old phrase: spring forward, fall back. In spring you lose an hour of sleep. In autumn you get it back.

The next autumn change in the UK is on Sunday 25 October 2026. You can follow the countdown to the clocks going back if you want a reminder to check that oven clock.

The United States and Canada

Most of the US and Canada uses a different rule. Clocks go forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November, at 2am local time.

That means each time zone changes an hour after the one to its east. New York changes first, then Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles in turn.

These dates have been in place in the US since 2007, after the Energy Policy Act of 2005 stretched daylight saving time by a few weeks at each end. Before that, the clocks went forward in April and back in late October.

In 2026, US clocks go back on Sunday 1 November. Our countdown to the end of daylight saving time runs to that moment on the East Coast.

Why the UK and US don't change together

Because the rules are different, there are a few weeks each year when the gap between London and New York isn't the usual five hours.

In spring, the US goes first, usually two or three weeks before Europe. In autumn, Europe goes back first and the US follows a week later. During those odd weeks, New York is only four hours behind London. If you've ever turned up to a transatlantic video call an hour early in March, this is why. It's worth double-checking any meeting that crosses the Atlantic in late March or late October.

Places where the clocks don't change

Not everyone bothers. In the US, Hawaii and most of Arizona stay on standard time all year. (The Navajo Nation, which covers part of Arizona, does change its clocks, so you can technically drive in and out of daylight saving time within an hour.)

Most countries near the equator don't use daylight saving time at all, because the length of the day barely changes through the year. Large parts of Asia and Africa don't change their clocks, and nor do China, India or Japan.

In the southern hemisphere, the seasons are the other way round, so countries that do change, such as Australia (in some states) and New Zealand, put their clocks forward around September or October and back around April.

Why do we do it at all?

The basic idea is to shift an hour of daylight from the early morning, when most people are asleep, to the evening, when they're awake and might use it.

In Britain, the idea is usually credited to William Willett, a builder who campaigned for it in the early 1900s after noticing how many people slept through bright summer mornings. He didn't live to see it. It was the First World War that made it happen: Germany introduced summer time in 1916 to save fuel, and the UK followed within weeks. The US adopted it in 1918.

Whether it still saves energy today is much less clear. Studies point in different directions, and the original argument was made in a world lit by coal and gas.

Is it ever going to stop?

People have been asking this for decades, and there's been real movement more than once.

In 2018 the European Commission proposed ending seasonal clock changes after a public consultation drew around 4.6 million responses, most of them in favour of scrapping the switch. The European Parliament backed the idea in 2019. But EU countries still haven't agreed whether to stay on permanent summer time or permanent winter time, and without that, the plan has stalled.

In the US, bills to make daylight saving time permanent have been put forward again and again. One passed the Senate in 2022 but didn't become law. So far, the clocks keep changing.

Does it affect your health?

Many people feel off for a few days after the spring change in particular. Losing an hour of sleep shifts your body clock, and some studies have linked the week after the change to a small rise in road accidents and heart problems. The usual advice is boring but sensible: go to bed a little earlier for a couple of nights beforehand, and get some daylight in the morning afterwards.

A quick checklist for clock change weekend

Your phone, laptop and smart speakers will update themselves.Your oven, microwave, car and any wall clocks probably won't.If you work night shifts, check how your employer handles the extra or missing hour.If you're travelling or have calls with people abroad, check the time difference for the next week or two.

And if you're not sure which way the clocks go this time, just remember: spring forward, fall back.