Clocks Go Back: London Gets an Extra Hour as British Summer Time Ends

Sunday 25 October 2026 brought the annual end of British Summer Time in London and across the UK, as clocks fell back one hour at 2am, reverting to 1am GMT. The change means Londoners gained an extra hour of sleep, but daylight now ends at approximately 4:45pm — a dramatic shift for a city accustomed to summer evenings stretching well past 9pm. Elsewhere in the UK, sunset times on Sunday ranged from 4:43pm in Edinburgh to 4:57pm in Belfast. The UK first adopted clock changes in 1916 as a wartime measure to make better use of daylight hours and conserve fuel. Modern devices including smartphones, computers and smart TVs updated automatically, but analogue clocks, some older cars and kitchen appliances required manual adjustment. The next change will be on 28 March 2027, when clocks spring forward again for British Summer Time. Debate over whether the UK should abandon the twice-yearly switch continues: a 2024 YouGov survey found 46 per cent of British adults supported keeping the changes, while 42 per cent favoured scrapping them entirely.