Daylight Saving Time Dates: When the Clocks Change in 2026 and 2027

Europe and the United Kingdom moved their clocks back on 25 October 2026. Most of the United States and Canada follow this Sunday, 1 November, and the Southern Hemisphere will turn its clocks back in April. This guide lists the dates through the end of 2027, explains the rules behind them, and points out the one thing that could still change.

The dates at a glance

United States and Canada

Both countries follow the schedule set by the US Energy Policy Act of 2005, which has applied since 2007. Clocks go forward at 02:00 local time on the second Sunday of March and back at 02:00 on the first Sunday of November. Canadian provinces that use daylight saving follow the same dates.

Not everyone changes. Hawaii and most of Arizona stay on one time all year, as does most of Saskatchewan, and Yukon has kept a single fixed time (UTC−7) since 2020. You can see the pattern for New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto and Honolulu on their city pages.

Could the US dates change?

Possibly, though not before this Sunday. In July 2026 the House of Representatives passed the Sunshine Protection Act (H.R. 139) by 308 votes to 117. The bill would make daylight time permanent, so clocks would go forward once and never go back. It now sits in the Senate, which has not voted on it and has scheduled no vote before the 3 November midterm elections. Until it becomes law, the rules above apply.

If it is enacted later, the spring 2027 change would probably be the last one, but the exact timing depends on the final wording of the bill. This is not the first time the idea has stalled: the Senate approved a similar bill by unanimous consent in March 2022, and the House never voted on it. Treat the 2027 US dates as the current plan rather than a certainty.

The United Kingdom and Europe

Europe uses a single schedule. Clocks go forward at 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and back at 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday of October. In 2027 that means 28 March and 31 October. In Britain that is 01:00 becoming 02:00 in spring and 02:00 becoming 01:00 in autumn. In central Europe, in places such as Paris, Berlin and Rome, it is 02:00 becoming 03:00 and 03:00 becoming 02:00. Switzerland is not in the EU but uses the same dates.

In 2019 the European Parliament voted to end the twice-yearly change, but the member states have never agreed a common position, so the old system continues. Spain restarted the push for reform in late 2025, and it has not produced a change yet.

The Southern Hemisphere

Summer time in the south runs from roughly October to April. In Australia it applies in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, so Sydney changes but Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not. Tiny Lord Howe Island shifts by only 30 minutes instead of an hour. New Zealand, including Auckland, changes on different dates from Australia, and the Chatham Islands follow the same days.

Chile changes at midnight: clocks go back at the end of Saturday 3 April 2027 and forward at the start of Sunday 5 September. Paraguay no longer changes its clocks and stays on UTC−3 all year.

The Middle East and North Africa

Egypt reinstated daylight saving time in 2023. By law it starts at midnight on the last Friday of April and ends at the end of the last Thursday of October, which gives the dates in the table for Cairo. Israel starts on the Friday before the last Sunday of March (26 March 2027) and ends on the last Sunday of October (31 October 2027).

Morocco is a special case. It stays on UTC+1 all year, except that clocks go back one hour during Ramadan. In 2027 that pause runs from 7 February to 14 March.

Places that have stopped changing their clocks

Many countries have dropped daylight saving time in recent years. Turkey fixed its clocks at UTC+3 in 2016, so Istanbul no longer changes. Brazil abolished daylight saving in 2019, which is why São Paulo now stays on UTC−3. Mexico ended it for most of the country in 2022, and Mexico City stays on UTC−6, though some border municipalities still follow the US dates. Russia stopped changing its clocks in 2011 and settled on permanent standard time in 2014, and Iran abolished daylight saving in 2022.

Most of Africa and Asia never used it. Tokyo, Mumbai, Singapore, Dubai and Nairobi keep one time throughout the year.

The weeks when time differences shift

Because the US and Europe change their clocks on different dates, the gap between them briefly changes. In 2027 the US moves on 14 March but Europe not until 28 March, so for two weeks London is 4 hours ahead of New York instead of the usual 5. The same thing happens in the autumn: Europe goes back on 31 October but the US waits until 7 November.

The effect is bigger for the Southern Hemisphere. The gap between Sydney and London goes 11, 10, 9, 10 and then 11 hours across 2027. If you schedule calls across regions, check these weeks in advance. The city pages for London, New York and Sydney show each gap for 2027.

A few practical tips

• Phones, laptops and most smart devices update themselves, but older car clocks, ovens and wall clocks need changing by hand.
• In spring one local hour is skipped, and in autumn one local hour happens twice. Scheduled jobs and alarms set inside those hours can misbehave.
• If you travel in March, April, October or November, check whether your origin and destination change on the same date.

For the history behind all this, read our guide to how time zones came about.