The switch to summer time this weekend means the morning will be dark for an additional hour, while the evening will see one more hour of daylight.
Summer time remains a controversial topic. Many question whether it actually helps save energy, what its health impacts are, and whether the practice might eventually be abolished. But if summer time is here to stay, how can you remember whether to set clocks forward or back?
Summer time was originally introduced as an energy-saving measure, intended to reduce electricity consumption by encouraging people to make greater use of daylight. However, whether it achieves this goal is debatable. While people may use less electricity due to longer evening daylight, many tend to keep their heating on longer in the early morning hours instead.
Many sleep scientists advocate for permanent winter time, noting that daylight – particularly the blue portion of sunlight – influences our biological rhythm, or internal clock, which regulates when we feel awake and when we feel sleepy. Additionally, any change to the clock, whether forward or back, disrupts this biological rhythm, leading to a range of negative effects such as insomnia. As a result, people may temporarily feel more tired, less focused, and more irritable.
For these reasons, many people view the time change as unnecessary and are calling for its abolition. Such discussions have been ongoing at the EU level for years.
The debate gained momentum in 2018, following a survey of EU residents. Of the 4.6 million participants, 84% spoke in favour of ending the practice. Then European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker subsequently proposed abolishing the time change and leaving it to member states to decide whether to adopt permanent summer or winter time. In 2019, a majority of members of the European Parliament voted in favour of abolishing summer time. Technically, this meant the practice should have ended by 2021 – on the condition that member states agreed on a common solution. However, due to a lack of agreement in the Council, the time change remained in place.
The discussion continued for some time but gradually lost prominence as other issues, such as the war in Ukraine, took precedence.
Although the time change is still taking place in 2026, the European Commission has signalled a willingness to revive the stalled talks. A new study is expected to renew discussions among member states, with results anticipated by late June.
This spring, the clock will be moved forward, and it will be turned back again in October. To remember the direction of the change, a simple mnemonic can help: “In autumn, terrace chairs are brought back inside.” Accordingly, clocks are turned back in October and advanced by one hour in March.
In this case, at 2am, early Sunday 29 March (or late Saturday, some would say), the clock advances one hour, to 3am.
