Clocks Go Back 2026: When Do the UK and France Change Time?

France turns 3am back to 2am and the UK turns 2am back to 1am on 25 October. Their one-hour time difference remains, but schedules with Asia will shift.

France and the UK turn their clocks back in the early hours of Sunday 25 October. For many residents, the change offers an extra hour over the weekend. For families and businesses organising travel, classes or work across borders, it also requires a fresh look at the diary: the time difference within this part of Europe stays the same, while connections with Asia move by an hour.

The French government confirms that clocks go back from 3am to 2am during the night of 24–25 October. In the UK, the change takes place at 2am, when clocks return to 1am and Greenwich Mean Time. Although the local clock readings differ, both countries make the switch at the same instant. Paris remains one hour ahead of London. French government guidance; UK government guidance.

Back, not forward: a wider time difference with Beijing

The immediate question is whether clocks go forward or back. This weekend they go back: in France, the hour between 2am and 3am occurs twice. The change does not create extra daylight. It changes the clock time assigned to sunrise and sunset, both of which will appear an hour earlier than if summer time continued.

The shift is more noticeable when arranging calls across time zones. Once the change is complete, Paris is seven hours behind Beijing and London is eight hours behind. At 8pm in Beijing, it will be 1pm in Paris and noon in London.

An online class fixed at 2pm Paris time will therefore move from 8pm to 9pm for a student in China. If the class is fixed to Beijing time instead, participants in Paris will see it start an hour earlier locally. The appointment has not been rescheduled; the conversion has changed.

International teams need to check not only the day and hour, but also the time zone used in the invitation. Stating “2pm Paris time” is clearer than relying on a summer-time conversion shared in a group chat. Recurring appointments involving several countries should also retain the organiser’s intended time zone.

The UK–France gap stays the same; overnight journeys still need checking

Travellers between Paris and London do not need to recalculate the gap as two hours or no hours. That does not establish whether every overnight transport service will operate unchanged.

The repeated early-morning hour can make a pickup arrangement ambiguous if it lists only a clock time without a time zone. For overnight departures, flight connections, airport transfers or cross-border journeys, passengers should use the operator’s latest published local times rather than assume that turning the clocks back moves a service earlier or later.

Phones and computers usually adjust automatically, provided their date, time and time-zone settings are correct. The French government nevertheless reminds residents to change wall clocks, standalone alarm clocks and some household appliances manually. Advice on adjusting devices.

The debate over ending clock changes has not ended the practice

Years of discussion about abolishing seasonal clock changes can leave the impression that the system has already been scrapped. The French government’s latest guidance says that, although the EU proposed ending the practice, no common decision has been agreed. France continues to change its clocks twice a year.

France reintroduced seasonal clock changes in 1976, chiefly to reduce artificial-lighting needs and save energy. Whether the system should continue is a separate question from what residents must do this weekend: the policy debate remains open, while the current timetable is clear. French government background.

For anyone with an international class, interview or business meeting next week, checking the calendar on Sunday evening is easier than discovering a mismatch on Monday. The UK government already lists the next move to summer time: clocks go forward again on 28 March 2027. UK clock-change calendar.