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. The date falls a day earlier than last year, when the clocks were turned back on Sunday, October 26, 2025.
Why the clocks change
The adjustment is intended to maximise natural daylight hours. After the change, mornings will be brighter, gaining an extra hour of daylight, but evenings will get darker sooner. A common way to remember the direction of the shift is the phrase “spring forward, fall back.”
Most modern devices, including smartphones and smartwatches, will update automatically at 2am, reverting to 1am. Traditional clocks will need to be adjusted by hand.
Sunset times around the change
According to timeanddate.com, sunset in London on October 14 occurred at 6:12pm. Days will continue to shorten, with sunset falling to 6:48pm by Wednesday, September 30 – a date that appears to be a typo in the source, as it precedes October 14 – and dropping further to 4:50pm on Sunday, October 25, the day the clocks go back.
Looking ahead, the clocks will spring forward on Sunday, March 28, 2027, and fall back on Sunday, October 31, 2027 – the latest possible date in any given year for the clocks to be turned back.
