Daylight Saving Time 2026: Clocks go back in Belgium on 25 October

We can all look forward to an extra hour in bed this weekend as clocks go back an hour on 25 October at 3.00 in the morning.

It means sunset moves forward an hour, although we also inevitably lose an hour of daylight in the evening.

The practice of changing the time in Europe — the current system of alternating between summer time and winter time — is a long-standing tradition dating back to World War One, reports RTBF.

If it was aimed at saving energy by making better use of natural daylight during the summer, the practice faces increasing criticism today, and some countries have already abandoned it.

In 2019, the European Parliament voted on a proposal to end Daylight Saving Time across the EU. Under this plan, individual member states could choose to remain on either summer time or winter time, provided they coordinate with one another to avoid complicating life for citizens or disrupting the common economic market.

The proposal underwent preliminary discussions, but has since stalled — primarily due to a series of successive crises, and in particular, the difficulty of reaching a consensus on which time standard to adopt permanently.

If member states still fail to reach an agreement, Belgium will switch from winter time to summer time during the night of 28 March 2027 at 2.00.

Photo: ©Freepik