Turn your clocks back one hour on Sunday 25 October 2026: at 3:00 in the night it becomes 2:00 again, so you get one extra hour of sleep. Belgium then switches from summer time (UTC+2) to winter time, officially called standard time (UTC+1), and stays on it until Sunday 28 March 2027. Your smartphone, laptop and smartwatch change by themselves, but the clock in your car or oven usually does not. The winter time change is still happening in 2026, because the EU plan to stop changing the clocks has been stuck for years. Below you find what to do on the night itself, why the change exists, where the EU debate stands and a table with the time difference to popular destinations.
What happens on 25 October 2026
Put your clocks back from 3:00 to 2:00 in the night from Saturday to Sunday. The hour between 2:00 and 3:00 happens twice, so the night lasts 25 hours. The whole EU changes at the same moment, as do the United Kingdom and Ireland, which means the time difference with London stays one hour.
Summer time | Winter time | |
|---|---|---|
Official name | Central European Summer Time (CEST) | Central European Time (CET) |
Offset | UTC+2 | UTC+1 |
2026 to 2027 | Until 25 October 2026 | 25 October 2026 to 28 March 2027 |
Daylight | Lighter in the evening | Lighter in the morning, dark around 17:00 in December |
If you work a night shift, check with your employer how the extra hour is counted. Trains and night buses that run around 3:00 follow the official time, so check your ticket or the operator app if you travel that night.
Does your phone change to winter time automatically?
Yes. Your phone changes to winter time automatically as long as the automatic date and time setting is on, which is the default. The phone gets the correct time from your mobile network or from the internet, so you do not have to do anything. To check:
Device | Where to check |
|---|---|
iPhone | Settings, General, Date and Time, Set Automatically |
Android | Settings, System, Date and time, Set time automatically |
Laptop | Date and time settings, set time and time zone automatically |
Car, oven, older alarm clock | Change these by hand |
A phone that is switched off or in airplane mode all night updates as soon as it connects again. If you set an alarm for early Sunday morning, it rings at the new time, so you really do get that extra hour.
The same thing happens when you travel. Once your phone connects to a local network or to mobile data abroad, it switches to the local time zone, which is why boarding passes, hotel check in times and calendar invites line up with the place where you are.
Why the clocks change at all
Summer time was introduced to save energy. Belgium brought it back in 1977, after the oil crisis, so that people would use more daylight in the evening and less electric light. Since 1996 all EU countries change on the same dates: the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October, at 1:00 UTC.
Today the energy saving is small, and studies point to short term effects on sleep, concentration and road safety in the days after each change. That is a big part of why the EU wants to stop.
Will the EU stop changing the clocks?
Not yet. In 2018 the European Commission proposed to end the clock changes after a public consultation in which 84% of 4.6 million respondents voted to stop. The European Parliament approved the plan in 2019, but the member states in the Council never agreed, mainly because each country would have to choose between permanent summer time and permanent winter time, which could create a patchwork of time zones between neighbours.
In October 2025, Spain asked the EU to stop the clock changes from 2026, with support from countries such as Finland and Poland. In 2026, the European Commission said ending the changes was still possible and announced a new study, but no decision has been taken. The clocks change on 25 October 2026 and again on 28 March 2027, and even with a quick agreement, the change would realistically end in 2027 at the earliest.
Time difference with popular destinations
Countries that do not use summer time move one hour closer to or further from Belgium when the clocks go back. This table shows how many hours they are ahead of (+) or behind (minus) Belgium.
Destination | Until 25 October 2026 | From 25 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
London, Lisbon, Canary Islands | minus 1 hour | minus 1 hour |
Marrakech, Morocco | minus 1 hour | same time |
Hurghada, Egypt | +1 hour | +1 hour (+2 from 25 to 29 October) |
Antalya and Istanbul, Turkey | +1 hour | +2 hours |
Dubai | +2 hours | +3 hours |
Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand | +5 hours | +6 hours |
Bali, Indonesia | +6 hours | +7 hours |
Tokyo, Japan | +7 hours | +8 hours |
New York | minus 6 hours | minus 6 hours (minus 5 from 25 October to 1 November) |
Cape Verde | minus 3 hours | minus 2 hours |
Curaçao | minus 6 hours | minus 5 hours |
Egypt and the United States change their own clocks a few days after Belgium, on 30 October and 1 November 2026, so the difference is briefly one hour smaller. If you fly in the last week of October, check the local time on your boarding pass, not the time on your watch.
Stay connected when you travel
Switch on mobile data as soon as you land: your phone then sets the local time by itself, and your boarding pass, maps and messages keep working. Light travel use needs little data, based on Firsty's guides on Google Maps, WhatsApp and ChatGPT:
What you do | Data used |
|---|---|
Google Maps navigation | 3 to 5 MB per hour |
WhatsApp message / photo | Under 1 KB / 100 to 500 KB |
WhatsApp voice call | 0.3 to 0.5 MB per minute |
Boarding pass | Under 1 MB to download, 0 MB once saved |
Taxi or ride app | A few MB per ride |
ChatGPT text chat | 1 to 5 MB per hour |
A light travel day | Under 100 MB |
A week of light use | Under 700 MB |
Inside the EU, your Belgian plan works as at home. Dubai, Thailand, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and New York fall outside the EU roaming rules, so a plan that also covers countries outside the EU, such as Firsty World, keeps you online there. With Firsty, there is no SIM card to swap, no roaming setting to remember, no zone chart to check and no surprise bill.
Ready for winter time
Put your clocks back on 25 October, check that automatic time is on, and sort your mobile data before your autumn trip. Have a look at the Firsty plans for Belgium and the EU, including a plan with more data for the long winter evenings. Every connection Firsty sells also connects someone in Belgium who needs it, not as charity, but as how the business works. Things are moving, so keep an eye on what Firsty is building and discover more at Firsty.app.
FAQ
When do the clocks go back in 2026?
The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October 2026 in Belgium and the rest of the EU. At 3:00 in the night, the time becomes 2:00, and Belgium switches from summer time (UTC+2) to winter time (UTC+1).
Do I get an extra hour of sleep with winter time?
Yes. Because the clocks go back from 3:00 to 2:00, the night from Saturday 24 to Sunday 25 October 2026 lasts one hour longer. In March the opposite happens and you lose one hour.
Does my phone change to winter time automatically?
Yes, as long as the automatic date and time setting is on, which is the default on iPhone and Android. Your phone takes the time from the mobile network or the internet, so only devices such as your car clock and oven need changing by hand.
When does summer time start again in 2027?
Summer time starts again on Sunday 28 March 2027. At 2:00 in the night the clocks go forward to 3:00, and Belgium returns to UTC+2.
Will the EU stop changing the clocks?
Not in 2026. The European Parliament voted to stop the clock changes in 2019, but the member states have not agreed, and the European Commission announced a new study in 2026. A realistic end date is 2027 at the earliest.
What is the time difference between Belgium and New York in winter?
New York is 6 hours behind Belgium for most of the winter. Between 25 October and 1 November 2026, the difference is 5 hours, because the United States changes its clocks one week later than Europe.
