Clocks GO BACK Tonight in Europe: Daylight Saving Time Ends on October 26

Europe ‘Falls Back’ to Standard Time Sunday: What to Know About the Daylight Saving Time (DST) Change and the EU’s Abolition Debate.

The annual transition from lighter evenings to brighter mornings is upon Europe. If you are in almost any European country, your clocks will go back one hour tonight, Sunday, October 26, 2025, marking the official end of Daylight Saving Time (DST), also known as Summer Time.

This crucial shift means that residents across the continent will enjoy a welcome perk: an extra hour of sleep this weekend, as local time returns to its standard—or “winter”—setting.

The Details: When and How the Clocks Change

The time change is coordinated across Europe to minimise disruption, though the local time for the switch varies depending on the time zone:

For most of mainland Europe, including major capitals like Paris, Berlin, and Rome, the clocks will fall back at 3:00 AM local time to 2:00 AM local time.

This means a sunrise one hour earlier, making mornings brighter, but sunsets will arrive an hour sooner, leading to noticeably darker evenings.

The Future of DST: The Lingering EU Debate

Every year, the twice-yearly clock change fuels the long-running debate over its necessity. This year is no different, particularly in Europe, where the practice has been under official review.

In 2018, the European Commission proposed abolishing the seasonal clock changes entirely, following a public consultation that showed overwhelming support for the move.

In 2019, the European Parliament voted in favour of the proposal, recommending that member states end the practice by 2021.

However, the abolition plan has since stalled.

• No Final Decision: The lack of political consensus among EU member states on whether to permanently adopt “Summer Time” or “Standard Time” (Winter Time) has led to a legislative deadlock.
• Status Quo Remains: As of late 2025, the existing directive remains in force. This means Europe will continue to change the clocks on the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October until a concrete and coordinated decision is reached by all EU countries.
• UK Position: The United Kingdom, which observes the same dates for its time change (moving from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time), is no longer an EU member and has not indicated any immediate plans to end the biannual switch.

Why Do We Still Change the Clocks?

The main reason for implementing Daylight Saving Time, first widely adopted during World War I, was to save energy by extending daylight into the evening.

The theory suggests that having an extra hour of usable daylight in the afternoon would reduce the need for artificial lighting.

While the energy-saving benefits are now highly disputed by modern studies, the practice continues because it provides:

1. More Evening Daylight: Crucial for evening leisure activities, sports, and outdoor social events during the summer months.
2. Harmonised Schedule: It keeps the timetable of business and travel across the vast majority of the European continent consistent for seven months of the year.

As Europe returns to Standard Time, the debate over its utility—and when the final switch might actually happen—will simply enter its hibernation phase, only to resurface when the clocks spring forward again next March.