When Do Clocks Change in 2026?
6 min read
Daylight Saving Time (DST) affects over a billion people worldwide, but the exact dates differ by country — and the US, EU, and Australia all switch on different weekends. Here are the exact clock-change dates for 2026 for every major region.
United States and Canada
Clocks move from 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM. One hour is lost. This is the second Sunday of March.
Clocks move from 2:00 AM back to 1:00 AM. One hour is gained. This is the first Sunday of November.
Exceptions: Arizona (except Navajo Nation) and Hawaii do not observe DST and keep their clocks unchanged year-round.
United Kingdom and Ireland
Clocks move from 1:00 AM to 2:00 AM (GMT → BST / GMT → IST). This is the last Sunday of March.
Clocks move from 2:00 AM back to 1:00 AM (BST → GMT). This is the last Sunday of October.
European Union
All EU member states move clocks forward at 1:00 AM UTC simultaneously. Local clock times vary by zone (CET → CEST, EET → EEST, etc.).
All EU member states move clocks back at 1:00 AM UTC simultaneously.
Note: The EU voted to abolish DST in 2019 but has not yet implemented the change due to disagreements among member states about which permanent time to adopt.
Australia
Australia’s DST runs during the Southern Hemisphere summer — opposite to the Northern Hemisphere.
NSW, Victoria, ACT, Tasmania, South Australia move clocks forward. Queensland, Western Australia, and Northern Territory do not observe DST.
Clocks move back in the same states that observed DST.
New Zealand
Clocks move from 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM (NZST → NZDT). Last Sunday of September.
Clocks move from 3:00 AM back to 2:00 AM (NZDT → NZST). First Sunday of April.
The dangerous gap: US vs EU
Because the US springs forward on March 8 and the EU springs forward on March 29, there is a three-week window (March 8–28, 2026) when the US is already on summer time but Europe is still on standard time. During this window, the time difference between US and European cities is one hour less than usual.
Similarly in autumn, the EU falls back on October 25 but the US falls back on November 1 — a one-week window when the EU is on standard time but the US is still on summer time, making the gap one hour more than usual.
If you have recurring calls or meetings between the US and Europe, double-check the times during these transition weeks.
Countries that do not observe DST in 2026
The majority of the world does not change clocks. Notable non-DST countries include: China, Japan, India, most of Africa, most of Southeast Asia, Russia (abolished DST in 2014), Turkey (abolished in 2016), Brazil (abolished in 2019), and Mexico (mostly abolished in 2023).
See the full list on our DST around the world guide.