Europe's clocks go back first, on Sunday, October 25, 2026, and those of the US and Canada follow on Sunday, November 1. The tables below give every date for 2026 and 2027, followed by the rules behind them, what the clock does on the night, and the places that never change.
Every change date for 2026 and 2027#
Every change below falls on a Sunday. The dates were computed from the IANA time zone database (version 2025b), and the UK dates also match GOV.UK.
Northern hemisphere: forward in spring, back in autumn#
| Region | Clocks forward, 2026 | Clocks back, 2026 | Clocks forward, 2027 | Clocks back, 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US and Canada | March 8 | November 1 | March 14 | November 7 |
| UK and EU | March 29 | October 25 | March 28 | October 31 |
The US and Canada row holds for New York, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax, the cities checked. The UK and EU row holds for London, Dublin, Lisbon, Paris, Berlin and Athens.
Southern hemisphere: back in autumn, forward in spring#
| Region | Clocks back, 2026 | Clocks forward, 2026 | Clocks back, 2027 | Clocks forward, 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South-east Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide) | April 5 | October 4 | April 4 | October 3 |
| New Zealand (Auckland) | April 5 | September 27 | April 4 | September 26 |
Adelaide's clock is half an hour off the whole-hour zones (Why India Is UTC+5:30: Half-Hour and 45-Minute Time Zones), but it changes on the same dates and at the same local times as Sydney. Brisbane, Perth and Darwin do not change at all.
The rule behind each date#
- US and Canada: daylight saving time runs from 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March to 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in November. For the US this is federal law (15 U.S.C. § 260a, summarized by the Congressional Research Service). The Canadian cities checked follow the same days and times.
- UK: summer time runs from 1:00 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time on the last Sunday in March to 1:00 a.m. on the last Sunday in October, under the Summer Time Act 1972 and the order made under it.
- EU: Directive 2000/84/EC sets the same two Sundays and fixes the moment at 1:00 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time in every member state, so the whole bloc changes at once. On March 29, 2026, London's clock jumps from 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. at the very instant Berlin's jumps from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.
- South-east Australia and New Zealand: clocks go back on the first Sunday in April. They go forward on the first Sunday in October in Australia and on the last Sunday in September in New Zealand. This is the pattern in the IANA database for Sydney and Auckland, and it reproduces their dates for every year from 2024 to 2035.
What happens to the clock: spring forward, fall back#
"Spring forward, fall back" gives the direction. In spring the clock jumps ahead one hour, so the night is an hour shorter. In autumn it drops back one hour, so the night is an hour longer. The saying fits the southern hemisphere's local seasons too: Sydney's clocks go forward in October and back in April.
Take New York in 2026. At 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 8, the clock jumps to 3:00 a.m., so 2:30 a.m. never happens and the day lasts 23 hours. At 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, it returns to 1:00 a.m., so 1:30 a.m. happens twice, first at 05:30 UTC and again at 06:30 UTC, and the day lasts 25 hours. London behaves the same way on March 29 and October 25. How Daylight Saving Time Works, Why It Exists and Who Still Uses It explains why places do this and what studies say about it.
Why New York and London are only four hours apart for a few weeks#
The US moves in the second week of March and the first week of November. The UK and EU move at the end of March and the end of October. In the weeks between, the gap shrinks by an hour.
| Period | London is ahead of New York by |
|---|---|
| March 8 to March 29, 2026 | 4 hours |
| October 25 to November 1, 2026 | 4 hours |
| March 14 to March 28, 2027 | 4 hours |
| October 31 to November 7, 2027 | 4 hours |
| All other times in 2026 and 2027 | 5 hours |
Each period starts and ends in the early hours of a Sunday: the first date is the day one side changes, and the last date is the day the other side catches up. A call fixed at 9:00 a.m. London time on a Tuesday is at 4:00 a.m. in New York on October 20, 2026, at 5:00 a.m. on October 27, and at 4:00 a.m. again on November 3. A recurring transatlantic meeting therefore slides by an hour on one side or the other, which How to Schedule a Meeting Across Time Zones: A 6-Step Checklist explains how to handle.
Places that do not change their clocks#
In the IANA data, these places keep one UTC offset all year, with no clock change in 2026 or 2027. How Daylight Saving Time Works, Why It Exists and Who Still Uses It has a region-by-region table:
- Asia and Africa: Kolkata (UTC+5:30), Tokyo (UTC+9), Shanghai (UTC+8), Singapore (UTC+8), Dubai (UTC+4), Nairobi (UTC+3), Lagos (UTC+1) and Johannesburg (UTC+2). Not everywhere on those continents stays put: Jerusalem changes on March 27 and October 25, 2026, and Cairo on Friday, April 24 (at midnight) and Thursday, October 29 (at midnight, going into Friday), 2026, on dates that follow neither the US nor the EU pattern.
- United States: Arizona and Hawaii, according to the Congressional Research Service. The Navajo Nation inside Arizona does observe daylight saving time. US Time Zones Explained: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific and Beyond covers the territories and the states split between zones, and EST vs EDT: What's the Difference, and Which One Is It Right Now? explains what it means for Phoenix and Honolulu.
- Canada: Regina (Saskatchewan) and Whitehorse (Yukon).
- Australia: Brisbane, Perth and Darwin. Sydney is one hour ahead of Brisbane in January and level with it in July, because only Sydney changes.
- Latin America: São Paulo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Bogotá. Santiago, Chile, does change, on dates of its own.
Could these dates change?#
The dates above follow the rules in force as of October 9, 2026. If a government changes its rules, the dates for that place change with them. The US dates come from federal law, so a different date would need an amendment to it. This guide does not track proposed legislation, so check an official source before planning around a US date in 2027.
The EU has a long-running proposal. The European Commission proposed ending the twice-yearly change on September 12, 2018, and the European Parliament backed it on March 26, 2019 by 410 votes to 192, with 51 abstentions. When last checked, the Council of the EU's page on seasonal clock changes said it had not yet agreed its position, so the clocks still change under the 2000 directive. Check that page for the current status.
How to check any city's change date on Timelive#
Every city page says whether the place observes daylight saving time. If it does, the "About time in" section gives the date and local time of the next change and the new UTC offset. If it does not, the page says the offset stays the same all year. Try New York, London, Berlin, Sydney or Auckland.
Zone pages such as EST work the same way. A comparison page such as New York to London gives the date of whichever place changes its clocks first and the time difference after that change. Timelive works these out from the IANA time zone database built into the browser, so they are only as current as that data. Where the exact time has legal force, use the government's own page.
Frequently asked questions
Do the clocks go back this weekend?
As of October 9, 2026, not this coming weekend (October 10 and 11): no clocks change that weekend in the US, Canada, UK, EU, Australia or New Zealand. The UK and EU go back on Sunday, October 25, and the US and Canada follow on Sunday, November 1.
When do the clocks go forward in 2027?
In the US and Canada the clocks go forward on Sunday, March 14, 2027. In the UK and EU they go forward two weeks later, on Sunday, March 28, 2027. In the southern hemisphere, New Zealand goes forward on Sunday, September 26, 2027, and south-east Australia on Sunday, October 3, 2027.
What time do the clocks change on the night?
In the US it is 2:00 a.m. local time: 2:00 a.m. becomes 3:00 a.m. in spring, and 2:00 a.m. becomes 1:00 a.m. in autumn. The UK and EU change everywhere at the same instant, 01:00 UTC. In spring that is 1:00 a.m. becoming 2:00 a.m. in London and 2:00 a.m. becoming 3:00 a.m. in Berlin. South-east Australia and New Zealand move from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. in spring and from 3:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. in autumn.
Which countries do not change their clocks?
Among the cities checked, Kolkata, Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg, São Paulo and Mexico City keep one offset all year. So do Arizona and Hawaii in the US and Brisbane and Perth in Australia. Cairo, Jerusalem and Santiago do change their clocks, on dates of their own.
Sources and further reading
- Daylight Saving Time (DST) — Congressional Research Service
- 15 U.S.C. 260a, Advancement of time or changeover dates — U.S. Government Publishing Office
- When do the clocks change? — GOV.UK
- Summer Time Act 1972 — legislation.gov.uk
- Directive 2000/84/EC on summer-time arrangements — EUR-Lex, Publications Office of the European Union
- Seasonal clock changes in the EU — Council of the European Union
- Seasonal changes of time — European Parliament Legislative Observatory