The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October 2026
At 02:00 the clocks go back to 01:00. You gain an hour, and in Dublin sunset moves from 18:10 the evening before to 17:05 the evening after.
- --days
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until the clocks go back
What it does to the rest of the world
This is the part people get caught by. Ireland changes on the last Sunday in October; Australia put its clocks forward at the start of the month and America does not change until November. So for a few weeks the familiar difference is wrong. After this change, Ireland moves an hour further from 23 of the 48 places we track.
| Place | Before 25 Oct 2026 | After |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 10 hours ahead | 11 hours ahead |
| Melbourne | 10 hours ahead | 11 hours ahead |
| Perth | 7 hours ahead | 8 hours ahead |
| Dubai | 3 hours ahead | 4 hours ahead |
| New York | 5 hours behind | 4 hours behind |
| Toronto | 5 hours behind | 4 hours behind |
Every clock change to 2032
| Date | Clocks go | At |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday 25 October 2026 | back | 02:00 → 01:00 |
| Sunday 28 March 2027 | forward | 01:00 → 02:00 |
| Sunday 31 October 2027 | back | 02:00 → 01:00 |
| Sunday 26 March 2028 | forward | 01:00 → 02:00 |
| Sunday 29 October 2028 | back | 02:00 → 01:00 |
| Sunday 25 March 2029 | forward | 01:00 → 02:00 |
| Sunday 28 October 2029 | back | 02:00 → 01:00 |
| Sunday 31 March 2030 | forward | 01:00 → 02:00 |
| Sunday 27 October 2030 | back | 02:00 → 01:00 |
| Sunday 30 March 2031 | forward | 01:00 → 02:00 |
| Sunday 26 October 2031 | back | 02:00 → 01:00 |
| Sunday 28 March 2032 | forward | 01:00 → 02:00 |
| Sunday 31 October 2032 | back | 02:00 → 01:00 |
Ireland's summer time runs from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, and both switches happen at 01:00 UTC, the same instant right across the EU, rather than the same local hour in each country.
Questions
When do the clocks change in Ireland?
The clocks next go back on Sunday 25 October 2026. At 02:00 the clocks go back to 01:00, so we gain an hour and get darker evenings: in Dublin, sunset moves from 18:10 to 17:05.
Do we gain an hour?
You gain an hour. The clocks go back from 02:00 to 01:00, so that night is 25 hours long and the 01:00 hour happens twice.
Why do the clocks change at all?
Ireland follows EU Directive 2000/84/EC, which sets a single summer-time period across the EU: it starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October, with both changes made at 01:00 UTC so every member state switches at the same instant rather than at the same local hour.
Is the EU still planning to scrap the clock change?
It proposed to. The European Commission proposed ending seasonal clock changes in September 2018 and the European Parliament backed doing so from 2021 in a March 2019 vote. The Council of the EU never agreed a common position, so the directive still stands and the clocks still change. Ireland has a particular complication: if the Republic stopped changing and the UK did not, there would be two time zones on the island of Ireland for part of the year.
Does Northern Ireland change at the same time?
Yes. The UK and Ireland change on the same dates and at the same instant, so there is no time difference across the border at any point in the year.