Exact date confirmed for clocks to return within the UK this 12 months – it is sooner than regular
The clocks will go back an hour at 2am on Sunday, October 25, 2026, marking the end of British Summer Time and the return to Greenwich Mean Time
Small clock(Image: Getty Images)
A blistering summer has come to an end – and those lengthy winter nights are rapidly approaching. Darkness now descends much sooner and temperatures are poised to nosedive. The autumn period will also signal the conclusion of daylight saving time, which is frequently greeted with annoyance throughout the UK. Those premature sunsets mean employees can lose practically all of the day’s natural illumination.
On the positive side, there will be an additional hour in bed when the clocks shift. And that date will arrive earlier this year than in 2025. While the clocks went back on Sunday, October 26, last year, in 2026 they will retreat an hour at 2am on Sunday, October 25, signalling the conclusion of daylight saving time.
A useful way of recalling which direction the clocks will alter is the phrase “spring forward, fall back”, reports the Express.
Big clock(Image: Daniel Balakov via Getty Images)
Most contemporary devices, including smartphones and smartwatches, will update automatically at 2am on Sunday, returning to 1am. Conventional clocks, however, will require manual adjustment.
The custom of altering the clocks was brought in to maximise natural daylight hours.
The change means that mornings will be brighter, gaining an additional hour of daylight, yet it also means that darkness will arrive sooner in the evenings.
According to timeanddate.com, sunset today (October 14) will occur at 6:12pm in London.
However the days will steadily contract, with sunset falling to 6.48pm by Wednesday, September 30. This will drop even further to 4.50pm on Sunday, October 25 – the day the clocks go back.
Looking further into the future, the clocks will spring forward next year on Sunday, March 28, 2027, and fall back on Sunday, October 31, 2027 – the latest possible date in any given year that the clocks could be turned back.
