Free tool · no sign-up
When do the clocks go back? The clocks-change planner
What it does
The clocks go back at 2am on Sunday 25 October 2026, when 2am becomes 1am and British Summer Time ends. They go forward again at 1am on Sunday 28 March 2027. The planner below takes your usual lights-off time and weekday alarm and gives you the week around the change, day by day.
- Put in your usual lights-off and alarm A normal weeknight, by the old clock.
- Choose how to take the hour Gently, over four nights, or all at once on the Sunday.
- Keep your usual times by the new clock Expect a few early mornings. By Thursday most people are through.
In the UK the clocks go forward at 1am on the last Sunday in March and back at 2am on the last Sunday in October. GOV.UK publishes the dates.
Your body clock doesn't read them. That's why Monday still feels wrong. A plan helps more than the extra hour does.
How to use the planner
Put in your usual lights-off time and your weekday alarm. The planner works out which change is next and counts down to it. Then it writes the week as day cards: Saturday night, Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Monday, and the days after.
Every time on it is by the new clock. No sums at midnight.
In autumn there's one plan, because the kinder change needs only one. In spring it asks a question.
Shift gently over four nights, 15 minutes earlier each evening and morning? Or take the lost hour on Sunday and let morning light do the work?
Why the week looks like that
Your body clock is set by light and routine, not by the clocks on the wall. When the clocks go back, your alarm and your bedtime both move an hour later against the sun.
So the clock has to drift later to catch up. It does that a little each day.
Evening light and a bedtime held by the new clock push it the right way. Bright light at 5.30am pulls it the wrong way. That's why the planner keeps Sunday and Monday mornings dim until the alarm, and keeps Sunday evening lit until your usual time.
A 2007 study tracked 50 people for eight weeks around each change. Their sleep timing adjusted readily to the autumn change. It failed to adjust to the spring one, especially in night owls.
A 2025 study in The BMJ followed 683,809 people in England. The week after the autumn change had slightly fewer GP and hospital records for sleep problems. The spring change showed no clear effect either way.
So the autumn plan is about not wasting the hour. The spring plan is about morning light.
The full explanation, with the studies, is in how to adjust your sleep when the clocks go back. The rule underneath it is in why your wake-up time matters more than your bedtime.
What it can't do
The times assume your body clock is set to your weekday alarm. After a run of late nights or lie-ins, it's later than that.
The autumn change is then milder. The spring one is harder.
The four-night shift in spring is the logical approach, and nobody has run a trial of it.
A 2013 review found little evidence that anyone gets extra sleep on the autumn night itself. Don't bank on the hour. Five early mornings can add up to a net loss.
Still waking at 5.30am in mid-November? Then the clock change isn't the cause. The NHS advice for sleep that stays broken is to speak to your GP.
Read next
Questions
When do the clocks go back in 2026?
At 2am on Sunday 25 October 2026, when the clocks go back to 1am and British Summer Time ends. They go forward at 1am on Sunday 28 March 2027. The dates follow a rule: the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October.
Do we gain or lose an hour when the clocks go back?
You gain an hour on paper. A 2013 review found little evidence that anyone actually sleeps it, because the body wakes at its usual time, an hour early by the new clock. The planner shows you where to spend it instead.
Should you change your sleep schedule before the clocks go back?
Not for the autumn change. Most people are through a one-hour shift within the week by keeping their usual times, and we couldn't find a trial of shifting beforehand. Save the effort for the spring, which the body takes harder.
Sources
- When do the clocks change?, GOV.UK, 2026
- The human circadian clock's seasonal adjustment is disrupted by daylight saving time, Current Biology, 2007
- Acute effects of daylight saving time clock changes on mental and physical health in England: population-based study, The BMJ, 2025
- The impact of daylight saving time on sleep and related behaviours, Sleep Medicine Reviews, 2013
- Effects of light on human circadian rhythms, sleep and mood, Somnologie, 2019
This article is general information, not medical advice. If sleep problems last more than a few weeks, speak to your GP.
Was this helpful?
Thank you.