Daylight Saving Time (DST) Guide
How DST works, 2026 switch dates for major regions, and how to avoid the classic one-hour meeting mistake.
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the practice of moving clocks forward one hour during warmer months to extend evening daylight. For world time users, the practical impact is simple but costly: the same country may be UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 in summer. Ignore DST and your meeting or flight connection can be wrong by a full hour.
How DST affects world time
The IANA time zone database stores DST rules per region. The US lower 48 states use EDT (UTC-4) from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in November, then EST (UTC-5). Most of the EU switches to CEST (UTC+2) on the last Sunday in March and back to CET (UTC+1) on the last Sunday in October. China, Japan, India, and many others use a fixed offset year-round.
Key points for 2026
- US/Canada: spring forward March 8, 2026; fall back November 1, 2026 (confirm official notices)
- EU/UK: DST starts March 29, 2026; ends October 25, 2026
- Australia: southern hemisphere seasons are reversed; Sydney DST typically Oct–Apr
- No DST: China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, UAE, and others stay on one offset all year
Practical tips
- When scheduling international calls, check the **meeting date**, not just the country name
- Use our Convert with a specific date — DST is calculated automatically
- For flights, legal deadlines, or safety-critical timing, verify with official sources
- Watch Europe and North America especially around March and October transitions
To see if a country is currently on DST, open its page in Countries — an amber DST badge appears when active. For UTC basics, read the UTC Basics guide.