In the United Kingdom the clocks go forward one hour at 1:00 a.m. on the last Sunday in March and back one hour at 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday in October. In 2027 British Summer Time begins on 28 March and ends on 31 October. For the seven months in between the country is one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time; for the other five it is on GMT itself.

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Next clock change in United Kingdom

Local time in each place. Computed from the IANA time zone database.

All clock changes 2026–2028: London

The Rule: Last Sunday in March, Last Sunday in October

The change is made at 1:00 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time on both nights. In March the clock goes from 0:59 to 2:00, so the hour from 1:00 to 2:00 does not exist. In October it goes from 1:59 back to 1:00 and that hour runs twice. The whole of the UK changes together, including Northern Ireland, and so do the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar. The dates match those of the European Union to the minute, because the rule was harmonised across Europe in the 1990s and the Summer Time Order 2002 kept it in British law; leaving the EU did not alter it. An easy way to remember the direction is the phrase spring forward, fall back.

Willett's Idea: How British Summer Time Began

The British version of the idea came from William Willett, a builder who rode out early on summer mornings and was struck by how many blinds were still drawn. In 1907 he published a pamphlet called The Waste of Daylight and spent the rest of his life lobbying Parliament. He died in 1915, a year before the Summer Time Act of 1916 was passed as a wartime measure, a few weeks after Germany had done the same. There is a memorial sundial to him in Petts Wood in south-east London, permanently set to summer time. Clocks have changed in Britain every year since, with two famous exceptions described below, and the debate about whether they should has never quite stopped.

Double Summer Time and the 1968 Experiment

During the Second World War Britain did not go back to GMT in winter. From 1941 to 1945, and again in the fuel crisis of 1947, the country was one hour ahead in winter and two hours ahead in summer, known as British Double Summer Time. Then, from 27 October 1968 to 31 October 1971, Parliament tried British Standard Time: one hour ahead of GMT all year, with no changes at all. Evenings were lighter and morning road accidents in the dark rose in the north of Scotland, where the midwinter sun did not rise until almost ten o'clock. The House of Commons voted to end the trial by 366 votes to 81. Proposals to move to Central European Time still return every few years and founder on the same Scottish mornings.

Born in Britain? What the Clock Did That Night

For a birth chart the question is always whether the recorded time was GMT or something else. Anyone born in a British summer since 1916 was born on summer time, an hour ahead of GMT. Those born in the summers of 1941 to 1945, or of 1947, were born on double summer time, two hours ahead, and winter births from February 1940 to October 1945 were one hour ahead, not on GMT. And everyone born between 18 February 1968 and 31 October 1971, summer or winter, was born one hour ahead, which catches many people out because a January birthday looks like a GMT one. An hour's difference moves the Ascendant by roughly a whole sign at British latitudes. Enter the time as the certificate gives it, and our natal chart calculator works out which of these clocks it was.

Frequently asked

When do the clocks go forward in 2027?

On Sunday 28 March 2027 at 1:00 a.m., when clocks move forward to 2:00 a.m. and British Summer Time begins.

When do the clocks go back in 2027?

On Sunday 31 October 2027 at 2:00 a.m., when clocks move back to 1:00 a.m. and the UK returns to Greenwich Mean Time.

Is the UK going to stop changing the clocks?

There is no current plan to. The UK kept the last-Sunday rule after leaving the European Union, and the government has said it does not intend to change it.

Clock changes by country