The clocks will go back one hour at 3am tonight for daylight savings, meaning you get to spend an extra hour in bed before your alarm clock goes off.

The change, which takes place overnight from 25 to 26 October, marks the return to winter time, the standard time for this region.

Not every clock will adjust automatically. Radio-controlled clocks and radios, or those connected to the internet, such as smartphones and smartwatches, will normally automatically adjust.

Traditional watches, household clocks and many appliances will need to be changed manually. In cars or kitchen devices, the adjustment depends on the system: some require manual input.

Is the clock change still relevant?

Debate has continued for years over whether changing the clocks still serves a purpose. The issue has been raised repeatedly in the European Parliament, which voted in 2019 to abolish the practice. However, implementation stalled because member states could not reach agreement, and no clear timetable has been set.

The modern system of coordinated clock changes across Europe was introduced in 1980, when the European Community sought to standardise differing national practices. Several countries, including Germany, had used daylight saving time long before that, but the move to align schedules across borders was intended to make better use of daylight and streamline economic activity.

More than 40 years later, the same ritual returned this weekend, giving everyone an extra hour of sleep as clocks went back from 3am to 2am overnight from 26 to 27 October.

Abolished or never adopted

In many parts of the world, the time change has long been scrapped, including in Turkey, Japan, China and Brazil. Several European countries, among them Armenia, Belarus and Russia (both in 2011) and Ukraine (in 2024), have also abolished it. Belarus reverted immediately to standard time, while Russia and Armenia chose to remain on summer time. Armenia kept that approach, but Russia later returned to permanent winter time.

Iceland, by contrast, never introduced a time change. In 1968 it adopted a ‘unified time’, effectively equivalent to summer time.

The shortest day of the year

The shortest day falls on 21 December, when daylight lasts only around eight hours and ten minutes. Sunrise comes late and sunset early. The next longest day will be 21 June 2026, bringing roughly 16 hours and 22 minutes of daylight.