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Daylight saving time shifts clocks forward 1 hour in spring and back 1 hour in fall. In the US, it starts the second Sunday of March and ends the first Sunday of November. That is 8 months of daylight time and only 4 months of standard time.
The concept is simple. The consequences are not. DST messes up international time conversions, disrupts medication schedules, confuses meeting planning, and creates 2-3 week windows twice a year where the time difference between countries is different than usual. Here is everything you need to know.
Our converter handles DST automatically — just enter a time.
Open Timezone Converter| Region | Spring forward (2026) | Fall back (2026) | Spring forward (2027) | Fall back (2027) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US / Canada | Sun, Mar 8 | Sun, Nov 1 | Sun, Mar 14 | Sun, Nov 7 |
| UK | Sun, Mar 29 | Sun, Oct 25 | Sun, Mar 28 | Sun, Oct 31 |
| EU | Sun, Mar 29 | Sun, Oct 25 | Sun, Mar 28 | Sun, Oct 31 |
| Australia (SE) | Sun, Oct 4 | Sun, Apr 5 | Sun, Oct 3 | Sun, Apr 4 |
| New Zealand | Sun, Sep 27 | Sun, Apr 5 | Sun, Sep 26 | Sun, Apr 4 |
The switch happens at 2:00 AM local time in most countries. At 2:00 AM in spring, clocks jump to 3:00 AM. At 2:00 AM in fall, clocks roll back to 1:00 AM.
When DST is active, the timezone abbreviation changes and the UTC offset shifts by 1 hour. This confuses a lot of people who use "EST" year-round when they actually mean "ET" (Eastern Time, which covers both EST and EDT).
| Zone | Standard (winter) | Daylight (summer) | Standard UTC | Daylight UTC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern | EST | EDT | UTC-5 | UTC-4 |
| Central | CST | CDT | UTC-6 | UTC-5 |
| Mountain | MST | MDT | UTC-7 | UTC-6 |
| Pacific | PST | PDT | UTC-8 | UTC-7 |
| UK | GMT | BST | UTC+0 | UTC+1 |
| Central Europe | CET | CEST | UTC+1 | UTC+2 |
| Eastern Europe | EET | EEST | UTC+2 | UTC+3 |
| Australia East | AEST | AEDT | UTC+10 | UTC+11 |
Key takeaway: most of the year, the US is on daylight time (EDT, CDT, MDT, PDT). Standard time only applies from early November to early March. If you are reading this between March and November, you are on daylight time right now.
This is the part that trips up anyone scheduling across borders. Because different countries switch DST on different dates, there are transition periods where the normal time gap changes.
The US springs forward on March 8, 2026. The UK does not spring forward until March 29, 2026. For those 3 weeks between March 8-29:
Meanwhile, Central Europe is also still on CET during this window. New York to Paris shifts from the usual 6 hours to 5 hours for those same 3 weeks.
The UK falls back on October 25, 2026. The US does not fall back until November 1, 2026. For that 1 week between October 25-November 1:
Australia's DST runs October through April (Southern Hemisphere). When the US springs forward in March, Australia is still in daylight time. When the US is in summer (daylight time), Australia is in winter (standard time). The Sydney-to-New York time difference swings between 14 and 16 hours depending on the season.
Several states have passed legislation to make DST permanent (staying on daylight time year-round), but this requires federal approval. The Sunshine Protection Act passed the US Senate in 2022 but stalled in the House. As of early 2026, no change has been enacted.
Most of the world does not bother with DST. The countries that do observe it are mostly in North America and Europe. Some notable holdouts:
During daylight saving months (March through November in the US), your clock shows one hour ahead of standard time. To find what time it "would be" without DST:
For example, if it is 3:00 PM EDT right now, it would be 2:00 PM EST without daylight saving. The sunrise and sunset would both be 1 hour earlier by the clock.
The conversion between two zones that both observe DST stays the same year-round. EST to PST is always 3 hours because both spring forward and fall back together. EST to CST is always 1 hour.
The conversion between a DST zone and a non-DST zone changes twice a year. EST to GMT shifts between 5 hours (winter) and 4 hours (summer) because the US moves but GMT stays put. EST to JST shifts between 14 hours (winter) and 13 hours (summer).
The conversion between Northern and Southern Hemisphere DST zones changes up to 4 times a year because they spring forward and fall back at opposite times. New York to Sydney shifts between 14, 15, and 16 hours depending on which combination of standard/daylight both are in.
Stop doing DST math in your head. The converter handles it automatically.
Open Timezone ConverterBenjamin Franklin suggested the idea in 1784 (as a joke in a letter about candle savings). Germany implemented it first in 1916 during WWI to conserve coal. The US followed in 1918, repealed it after the war, brought it back in WWII, then let states choose until the Uniform Time Act of 1966 standardized the dates nationally.
The US expanded DST in 2007 from 7 months to 8 months (the current schedule). Energy savings turned out to be minimal. The main arguments now: supporters say it gives more evening daylight for activities and commerce; opponents say it disrupts sleep, increases heart attack risk in the days after the switch, and serves no meaningful purpose in a modern economy where lighting is cheap.
The debate continues, but for now, set your clocks and plan your conversions accordingly.