Overview
- On the night of Saturday to Sunday, October 24–25, 2026, most of Europe including Germany set clocks back from 03:00 to 02:00, giving residents one extra hour and restarting the winter‑time schedule.
- The EU has not ended the biannual switch because member states could not agree on a permanent time, and the European Commission formally published summer‑time dates through 2031 while an EU‑commissioned study is expected by the end of 2026.
- Sleep researchers and organisations including the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schlafforschung say the clock changes disrupt circadian rhythms, especially for babies, children, older adults and ‘evening’ chronotypes, and they recommend measures such as morning daylight exposure and gradual schedule shifts.
- Some jurisdictions are moving differently: the Canadian province of British Columbia abolished the semiannual change in 2026 and will remain on year‑round UTC−7, a choice officials said will ease planning for families and businesses.
- Practical and technical consequences include one extra paid hour for night‑shift workers under German labour law and a planned change to global timekeeping after the CGPM decided that UTC will run without further leap seconds starting 20 May 2027, a move that will require software and infrastructure adjustments.