Daylight saving time ends - the clock turns at 3:00 a.m

Daylight saving time ended Clocks set back one hour As of: October 25, 2026 • 2:11 a.m

Daylight saving time has ended and the clocks have been set back one hour. Even though there are benefits on the first night, most people are not happy with the time change.

At 3 a.m. sharp, the clocks were set back one hour. This means that normal Central European Time (CET) applies again in Germany and most European countries.

This means that it is light earlier in the morning and dark earlier in the afternoon. Daylight saving time begins again on March 28, 2027.

The European Union has been discussing an end to the time change for years. However, the member states have not yet been able to agree on which time should apply permanently - the so-called standard time or summer time.

That night the clock was set forward another hour. more

The time change is also unpopular with most Germans. According to a current Forsa survey, 71 percent of those surveyed believe that the change is unnecessary and should be abolished. However, that is five percentage points less than in the previous year. Opposition to the time change has decreased, particularly among younger people.

Over half of people in Germany need days to get used to it after the change. More than one in ten (13 percent) say they need more than a week to make the change, according to a survey by the Yougov opinion research institute.

During the night the clocks were set back by one hour - normal time begins again for chronobiologists. more

Actually, setting the clock forward in spring should help save energy during the bright season. The idea was: If the day moves forward by an hour, less lighting and therefore less electricity is used. But according to analyses, energy saving effects are hardly detectable.

From a purely technical point of view, the time change is not a problem. In Germany, the clock for time is provided by the atomic clocks of the Physical-Technical Federal Institute in Braunschweig. The signals are transmitted via transmitters, through which the radio-controlled clocks automatically adapt to the time change. Clocks without a radio signal must be set accordingly by hand.

This topic in the program: NDR Info | News | Oct 24, 2026 | 9:30 a.m