Quick answer: In the United States and Canada, Daylight Saving Time in 2026 begins on Sunday, March 8 (clocks spring forward) and ends on Sunday, November 1 (clocks fall back). The UK and EU change on different dates - March 29 and October 25 - and Australia, in the opposite hemisphere, runs on a reversed schedule.
Because regions change clocks on different dates, the gap between two countries shifts for a few weeks each year - the single biggest source of scheduling mistakes. Here are all the 2026 dates in one place.
United States & Canada DST 2026
Spring forward: Sunday, March 8, 2026 at 2:00 AM -> clocks jump to 3:00 AM (lose an hour).
Fall back: Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 2:00 AM -> clocks return to 1:00 AM (gain an hour).
DST always starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November in the US and Canada. March 8 is the earliest the spring change can fall.
Exceptions: Most of Arizona and all of Hawaii don't observe DST, along with US territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands.
United Kingdom & European Union DST 2026
Spring forward: Sunday, March 29, 2026 at 1:00 AM UTC -> clocks go forward one hour.
Fall back: Sunday, October 25, 2026 -> clocks go back one hour.
The UK and EU change on the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October. The UK calls its summer period British Summer Time (BST). Despite Brexit, the UK and EU still change clocks on the same dates.
Australia DST 2025-2026
Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, so its seasons - and its DST - run opposite to the Northern Hemisphere.
DST ends (fall back): Sunday, April 5, 2026 at 3:00 AM -> clocks go back to 2:00 AM.
DST starts again (spring forward): Sunday, October 4, 2026 at 2:00 AM -> clocks go forward to 3:00 AM.
Only some states observe it: New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the ACT. Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory do not.
The transition trap: why the gap between countries moves
This is the part that catches international schedulers every year. Because the US, EU, and Australia change clocks on different dates, there are windows where the offset between two places is temporarily different from usual.
The most notorious example in 2026: between March 8 and March 29, the US has already sprung forward but Europe hasn't. During those three weeks, the New York-London gap is 4 hours instead of the usual 5. A call that's normally 2:00 PM New York / 7:00 PM London becomes 2:00 PM New York / 6:00 PM London.
The same misalignment happens in autumn: the EU falls back October 25, but the US not until November 1 - another week-long window where the gap is off by an hour.
2026 DST dates at a glance
| Region | Spring forward | Fall back |
|---|---|---|
| US & Canada | March 8, 2026 | November 1, 2026 |
| UK & EU | March 29, 2026 | October 25, 2026 |
| Australia (eastern states) | October 4, 2026 | April 5, 2026* |
*Australia is reversed - clocks fall back in April and spring forward in October.
What about permanent DST?
There's ongoing debate in both the US and EU about ending the twice-yearly clock change. The EU voted to scrap mandatory changes years ago but hasn't reached consensus on whether to settle on permanent summer or winter time, and US proposals have repeatedly stalled. For 2026, the clock changes still happen on the dates above.