Clocks
When do the clocks go back?
The countdown aims at the next change: 2am British Summer Time, when the clocks go back to 1am GMT.
Clocks go back, 2027
Sunday, 31 October 2027 at 2am
Rule: last Sunday in October, 2am BST.
| 2026 | Sunday, 25 October 2026 |
| 2027 | Sunday, 31 October 2027 |
| 2028 | Sunday, 29 October 2028 |
| 2029 | Sunday, 28 October 2029 |
| 2030 | Sunday, 27 October 2030 |
| 2031 | Sunday, 26 October 2031 |
Next Clocks go back
31 October 2027
Sunday, at 2am
368
days
1
hours
0
min
0
sec
368 days from today (28 October 2026).
Counting from the day this page was built. Worked out on this device from your entries and its clock: nothing is sent, nothing is stored.
Add 2026 to 2035 to my calendarIn the UK the clocks go back one hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October, when British Summer Time ends and Greenwich Mean Time begins. In 2026 that was Sunday, 25 October 2026. In 2027 it is Sunday, 31 October 2027, the latest possible date and the same day as Halloween, and in 2028 it is Sunday, 29 October 2028. At 2am BST, the time becomes 1am GMT, so the hour from 1am to 2am happens twice and that night is 25 hours long. Mornings get lighter and evenings darker straight away: sunset in London moves from around 5.40pm to around 4.40pm. The rule comes from the Summer Time Order 2002, made under the Summer Time Act 1972, which sets the end of summer time at 1am Greenwich Mean Time on the last Sunday in October. The whole of the European Union changes at the same moment, so the time difference with Paris, Madrid or Berlin stays one hour.
Clock changes in a given year
Clocks go back
31 October 2027, 2am
| Clocks go forward | 28 March 2027, 1am |
| Days on British Summer Time | 217 |
| Days on GMT that year | 148 |
Rules and dates checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Clocks go back, 2026 to 2035
| Year | Date | Day | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 25 October 2026 | Sunday | 210 days of BST that year |
| 2027 | 31 October 2027 | Sunday | 217 days of BST that year |
| 2028 | 29 October 2028 | Sunday | 217 days of BST that year |
| 2029 | 28 October 2029 | Sunday | 217 days of BST that year |
| 2030 | 27 October 2030 | Sunday | 210 days of BST that year |
| 2031 | 26 October 2031 | Sunday | 210 days of BST that year |
| 2032 | 31 October 2032 | Sunday | 217 days of BST that year |
| 2033 | 30 October 2033 | Sunday | 217 days of BST that year |
| 2034 | 29 October 2034 | Sunday | 217 days of BST that year |
| 2035 | 28 October 2035 | Sunday | 217 days of BST that year |
The rule in law
The Summer Time Act 1972 says that during summer time the time in Great Britain is one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, and lets the government set the period by order. The current order, the Summer Time Order 2002, fixes the end at 1am GMT on the last Sunday in October, so the date moves between 25 and 31 October. It was made to follow the EU Directive 2000/84/EC, and it stayed in force after Brexit because it is UK law. Northern Ireland follows the same rule under the same Act.
Because the change is fixed at 1am GMT, it happens at 2am in London and at 3am in Paris, at the same instant. The time difference with continental Europe therefore never changes, which is the reason for a common rule in the first place.
What to check on the night
Anything that keeps its own time and has no network connection: the cooker, the microwave, the car, the central heating programmer, a wall clock or wristwatch. Night-shift workers work one hour more on the night the clocks go back; the law on pay for that hour depends on the contract. Trains running through the night usually wait at a station for an hour. Medication taken at fixed times can be shifted by a few minutes a day over the week before if timing matters; ask a pharmacist.
Darker evenings
For road safety, the weeks after the change are known for a rise in accidents involving pedestrians, as the evening commute moves into darkness. The British Summer Time page explains why the UK has never kept summer time all year, apart from a trial from 1968 to 1971, and the clocks go forward page counts down to the spring change. Bonfire Night comes a week or so after the clocks go back, in the first dark evenings of the season.
Around the world on the same night
Not every country changes on the same weekend. The European Union changes at the same instant as the UK, so the gap with Paris or Berlin stays at one hour all year. The United States and Canada end their summer time a week later, on the first Sunday in November, so for one week the gap between London and New York is four hours instead of five. Much of the southern hemisphere does the opposite, starting summer time in the autumn months of the north. If you have meetings across time zones in late October, check the times for that week twice.