Central European Summer Time begins on 29 March.
Clocks in Italy and across Europe will “spring forward” by one hour at 02.00 Central European Time (CET) on Sunday 29 March 2026.
The custom dates back to more than a century, before the advent of electricity, and was designed to take full advantage of all the daylight hours during the working day.
However the practice – which means we will lose an hour of sleep but gain an hour of daylight – could be one of the last times that Europe is required to change its clocks.
In 2018 a proposal to end the twice-yearly clock changes in the European Union was presented in the EU parliament however the move was subsequently put on hold due to the covid pandemic.
Under the plan, the 27 member states will be required to choose either permanent summer time or winter time but must co-ordinate their choices to minimise risk of economic disruption in cross-border trade.
Until a final decision is taken at EU level, however, the current system remains in place.
There are currently three different time zones in the EU: two countries operate under GMT (Ireland and Portugal, in addition to the UK), 17 have Central European Time (GMT+1) and eight have Eastern European Time (GMT+2).
The only country in Europe not to make the most of extra daylight hours during the summer is Iceland which stays on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) all year round.
Central European Summer Time (CEST) will be with us until Sunday 25 October 2026.
