Europe's clocks go back one hour at 01:00 GMT on Sunday 25 October 2026 (04:00 in Riyadh), ending summer time under EU and UK law. The US follows on 1 November. Saudi Arabia does not change its clocks, so from Sunday European matches and markets start one hour later in Saudi time than they did all summer.
Key points
- EU Directive 2000/84/EC sets summer time from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, switching at 01:00 GMT in every member state at the same moment.
- The UK follows the same dates under its own law: clocks go back at 02:00 BST, which becomes 01:00 GMT.
- In the United States, daylight saving time ends at 02:00 local time on the first Sunday in November, 1 November 2026.
- Saudi Arabia stays on Arabia Standard Time (UTC+3) all year, so the gap to London grows from two to three hours and to Madrid, Paris and Berlin from one to two.
- A 2018 EU plan to stop the clock changes is still stuck; a Commission study launched in February 2026 is due by the end of the year.
How the clock change works
Daylight saving time, called summer time in Europe, moves the clock one hour forward in spring so that sunset comes later in the evening, then back again in autumn. The idea is old: several countries first used it during the First World War to save fuel, and many reintroduced it during the energy crises of the 1970s. Today the main argument for it is lifestyle rather than energy: longer, lighter summer evenings for leisure, sport and retail.
In the European Union the rules are fixed by a single law, Directive 2000/84/EC, which has applied since 2001 and replaced a series of directives dating back to 1980. Its purpose is practical. If each country switched on a different weekend, cross-border trains, flights, broadcasts and financial markets would face weeks of confusing timetables. So every member state changes at exactly the same instant, 01:00 Greenwich Mean Time, regardless of its local time zone. In Spain, France and Germany that means 03:00 local summer time becomes 02:00; in Greece and Finland 04:00 becomes 03:00.
The UK left the EU but kept the same dates. Under the Summer Time Act 1972, as amended, British clocks go forward at 01:00 GMT on the last Sunday in March and back at 02:00 BST on the last Sunday in October. In 2026 that is 29 March and 25 October; in 2027 the dates are 28 March and 31 October.
The United States uses a different calendar. Since the Energy Policy Act of 2005 took effect in 2007, US federal law has run daylight saving time from 02:00 on the second Sunday in March to 02:00 on the first Sunday in November, with states allowed to opt out (Hawaii and most of Arizona do). In 2026 that window is 8 March to 1 November, according to the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. This mismatch creates one awkward week every autumn when the gap between London and New York is four hours instead of five.
Why it matters in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
Saudi Arabia, like the rest of the Gulf, keeps the same time all year: Arabia Standard Time, three hours ahead of GMT. That stability is convenient at home but means that every change in Europe or the US shifts schedules for viewers, traders and travellers here. The table below shows the effect for 2026.
| City | Gap to Riyadh in summer | Gap to Riyadh from the change | Change date |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 2 hours behind | 3 hours behind | Sun 25 Oct |
| Madrid, Paris, Berlin, Rome | 1 hour behind | 2 hours behind | Sun 25 Oct |
| Athens, Helsinki | Same time | 1 hour behind | Sun 25 Oct |
| New York | 7 hours behind | 8 hours behind | Sun 1 Nov |
Football. A traditional 15:00 Saturday kick-off in England, which started at 17:00 in Riyadh all summer, now starts at 18:00. A 21:00 LaLiga game in Spain moves from 22:00 to 23:00 Saudi time. Sunday's Clásico is the first big example: 21:00 in Barcelona, 23:00 in Riyadh. Champions League evening games at 21:00 Central European Time will now finish around midnight Saudi time. Our kickoff time converter handles these changes automatically.
Markets and business. The London Stock Exchange opens at 08:00 local time, which becomes 11:00 in Riyadh instead of 10:00. Wall Street's 09:30 opening moves to 17:30 Riyadh time from 2 November. Teams that hold regular calls with European offices will find their overlap with the Saudi working day shrinks by an hour.
Travel. Airline timetables are published in local time, so flights do not usually move, but the length of a connection or a hotel check-in window can. Always check departure times in the local time of the departure airport during the week of a change.
Why the EU has not abolished it
In 2018 the European Commission ran a public consultation that drew about 4.6 million responses, a record for the EU, with a large majority in favour of ending the switch. On 12 September 2018 it proposed a directive to stop seasonal clock changes and let each country pick permanent summer or permanent winter time. The European Parliament backed the plan in March 2019 and voted for the changes to end in 2021.
The law also needs a qualified majority of member states in the Council, and that has never materialised. The obstacle is coordination. If neighbours chose different permanent times, new time borders could appear across the single market, for example between France and Spain or between Poland and its neighbours. In 2025 the Polish Council presidency floated a two-year trial of permanent summer time, and member states asked for more evidence. The Commission responded with a study, launched in February 2026 and run by a consortium of Ecorys, Capgemini, Stratec and CE Delft, which is assessing ten implementation scenarios covering the internal market, energy, transport and public health. It is expected to finish by the end of 2026, so the earliest realistic change is several years away.
What you can do
- Let your phone handle it: smartphones and computers set to update the time automatically will switch at the right moment. Check that "set automatically" is on, especially for devices showing a European or US time zone.
- Update recurring meetings with colleagues in Europe or the US. Calendar apps keep the local time of the organiser, so a 10:00 London call becomes 13:00 in Riyadh from Monday.
- Re-check any match, broadcast or market alert you set in Saudi time before 25 October, and for US events, again after 1 November. For date questions across calendars, our Hijri–Gregorian date converter is also useful.
FAQ
Does Saudi Arabia change its clocks?
No. Saudi Arabia uses Arabia Standard Time, UTC+3, all year. Only the time difference with countries that change their clocks moves.
Do I gain or lose an hour of sleep in Europe?
You gain one. On 25 October the hour between 01:00 and 02:00 GMT (02:00 and 03:00 in London) is repeated, so the day is 25 hours long.
When do European clocks go forward again?
On the last Sunday in March, which is 28 March 2027, unless EU law changes before then.
Why is the US gap different for a week?
Europe ends summer time on the last Sunday in October, the US on the first Sunday in November. Between 25 October and 1 November 2026 New York is four hours behind London instead of five.
Sources
- EUR-Lex: Directive 2000/84/EC on summer-time arrangements
- Council of the EU: Seasonal clock changes in the EU
- Council document 10045/26: Ongoing study on discontinuing seasonal time changes (June 2026)
- GOV.UK: When do the clocks change?
- legislation.gov.uk: Summer Time Act 1972
- 15 U.S. Code § 260a: Advancement of time (daylight saving time)
- NIST: Daylight Saving Time rules
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