UK and Europe Turned Clocks Back Oct. 25, a Week Before the U.S.: What Happened to the Time Difference

Both clock changes are done. Clocks in the UK and the EU went back one hour on Sunday, Oct. 25, and U.S. clocks went back on Sunday, Nov. 1. London is again 5 hours ahead of New York.

Clocks in the United Kingdom and the European Union went back one hour on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, one week before the United States and most of Canada made the same change on Nov. 1. For those seven days the usual time differences across the Atlantic shrank by an hour: London was 4 hours ahead of New York instead of 5, and Paris and Berlin were 5 hours ahead instead of 6.

When the clocks changed

In the UK, British Summer Time ends at 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of October, and clocks go back to 1:00 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time, according to GOV.UK. EU countries switch at the same moment under a 2000 directive that sets the change at 01:00 UTC across the bloc. That is 2:00 a.m. in London, Dublin and Lisbon, and 3:00 a.m. in Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Rome.

The U.S. rule is different. Federal law ends daylight saving time on the first Sunday in November, so U.S. clocks went back on Nov. 1, 2026. Most of Canada followed the same dates as the U.S.

The one-week gap

Between Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, Europe was on winter time while North America was still on daylight time. Every transatlantic difference dropped by one hour:

Cities	Usual difference	Oct. 25 to Oct. 31, 2026
London to New York	5 hours	4 hours
London to Chicago	6 hours	5 hours
London to Los Angeles	8 hours	7 hours
Paris or Berlin to New York	6 hours	5 hours
Paris or Berlin to Los Angeles	9 hours	8 hours

A 9:00 a.m. call in New York during that week was 1:00 p.m. in London, not 2:00 p.m. The normal gap returned at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, when U.S. clocks went back.

Who was affected

• Recurring meetings. Calendar apps store most invitations in the organizer’s time zone, so a weekly meeting set in New York showed up an hour earlier for colleagues in Europe that week, and the reverse.
• Flights and trains. Timetables are in local time, so nothing changed on the ticket, but connection times and arrival times relative to home could look an hour off.
• Markets. London trading hours stayed the same in local time, so the overlap with New York shifted by an hour for the week.
• Families and friends abroad. Anyone who called at a set time each week had to check the difference before dialling.

Spring has a two-week gap

The same mismatch happens in spring, and it lasts longer. U.S. clocks go forward on Sunday, March 14, 2027, while the UK and EU wait until Sunday, March 28, 2027. For those two weeks London is again 4 hours ahead of New York.

Change	United States	UK and EU
Clocks go back, 2026	Sunday, Nov. 1	Sunday, Oct. 25
Clocks go forward, 2027	Sunday, March 14	Sunday, March 28
Clocks go back, 2027	Sunday, Nov. 7	Sunday, Oct. 31

Will Europe stop changing clocks?

The European Parliament voted in 2019 to end seasonal clock changes in the EU, but member governments never agreed on a final plan, Royal Museums Greenwich notes, so the twice-yearly change continues. The UK, outside the EU since 2020, keeps its own rules under the Summer Time Act.

In the U.S., the House passed a bill in July 2026 to make daylight saving time permanent, but the Senate has not voted on it. Our report on the Nov. 1 clock change covers where that bill stands.

Checklist for the next gap in March 2027

• Confirm any transatlantic meetings or calls scheduled between March 14 and March 27, 2027, when London is again 4 hours ahead of New York.
• If you travel between Europe and North America in those two weeks, double-check pickup and check-in times.
• The October 2026 printable calendar shows Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, the two dates of this year’s gap; mark March 14 and March 28, 2027 for the next one.

The U.S. change came on Nov. 1; see daylight saving time ends. Our daylight saving time guide has the U.S. dates for 2027. For next year’s days off, see the UK holiday list, UK bank holidays 2027 and Canada statutory holidays 2027.