Winter Time Change 2026: When Do the Clocks Go Back?

In autumn 2026, dozens of countries will set their clocks back to winter time. Find out the exact dates for the time change in Europe, the USA, Australia and Asia

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Twice a year, billions of people around the world change their clocks – and every time it turns out that the dates, the direction, and even whether the change happens at all differ from country to country. In autumn 2026, part of the world is once again "getting back" an hour of sleep, while in the Southern Hemisphere summer is just beginning, and people there are turning their clocks forward instead. Here's a breakdown of when and where the shift to winter time happens in 2026 – and why there's no single date for the whole world.

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Why do clock-change dates differ from country to country?

Seasonal time change isn't a global rule – it's a decision each country or bloc of countries makes on its own. That's why the dates don't line up: Europe follows the last Sunday of March and October, the US and Canada follow the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday of November, while countries in the Southern Hemisphere live on an entirely opposite calendar, since it's spring there, not autumn. Adding to the confusion, some countries have abandoned seasonal clock changes altogether or never adopted them in the first place.

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Europe and Britain: one date for the whole bloc

In the United Kingdom and the European Union, the shift to winter time in 2026 will happen on the night of October 25, at 1:00 a.m. GMT – this moment arrives simultaneously across the whole bloc (01:00 UTC), though local clocks move differently:

- in Britain and Ireland, clocks go back from 2:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.;

- in Central European Time countries – from Germany to Spain and Poland – from 3:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.;

- in the Eastern European zone, which includes Greece, Finland, Bulgaria and Ukraine, from 4:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.

The idea of scrapping mandatory clock changes has been debated in the EU since 2019, when the European Parliament voted to end the practice – but no final decision has been made yet, and for 2026–2027 the region continues under the old system.

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The US and Canada: a different schedule and a three-week gap

In the United States and most of Canada, the shift to winter time comes later – on the night of November 1, when clocks go back from 2:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Since these countries switch to daylight saving earlier than Europe in spring (March 8 versus March 29), a roughly three-week window opens up every year when the time difference between New York and London temporarily shrinks from five hours to four. Worth keeping in mind when planning international calls, meetings, or flights during that period.

Not all of North America takes part in seasonal clock changes:

- Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii have kept a fixed time for years;

- Yukon in Canada dropped seasonal clock changes back in 2020;

- some communities in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia also don't change their clocks.

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Australia and New Zealand: everything in reverse

It's spring in the Southern Hemisphere right now, so the "winter" shift there already happened back in spring – on April 5, 2026. The next clock change coming up for Australia and New Zealand actually runs the other way: New Zealand moves its clocks forward on September 27, and the Australian states that observe seasonal time changes (New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory) follow on October 4, heading into their own summer. Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory don't observe seasonal clock changes at all – time there stays the same year-round.

Asia, the Middle East, and the rest of the world

The vast majority of Asian countries don't change their clocks at all. China, Japan, South Korea, India, and most Southeast Asian nations either dropped the practice decades ago or never adopted it, living on a single fixed time year-round. A few countries in the Middle East and Mediterranean are the exception: Israel, Lebanon, and Cyprus shift to winter time on the same principle as the EU – the last Sunday of October – while Egypt follows its own, slightly different schedule later that month. For anyone planning a trip to the region, the takeaway is simple: check local rules separately rather than assuming the European calendar applies.

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Will seasonal clock changes ever be scrapped?

Talk of doing away with clock changes altogether has dragged on for years in many countries without reaching a final decision. In the US, the Sunshine Protection Act has passed the Senate more than once but never became law. The situation in the EU is similar, with the 2019 initiative still not put into practice. For now, it's best to go by the dates currently in effect rather than plans to abolish them – those dates could change in any given year, but none of the world's major economies has made that call yet.

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