UK clocks fall back on Oct 26 2025: BST ends, GMT returns

When UK Government officially announced the 2025 clock change, 67 million people across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland suddenly had a concrete date for their extra hour of sleep. On Sunday, 26 October 2025, at exactly 02:00 am, clocks will be turned back one hour, ending British Summer Time and ushering the nation back into Greenwich Mean Time.

The switch will happen nationwide, from bustling London streets to the rural Highlands, shifting local civil time from UTC+01:00 to UTC+00:00. It’s a ritual that dates back over a century, but the specifics—down to the second—are anything but vague.

Why the clocks change: a brief history

British Summer Time (BST) was first introduced in 1916 under the Summer Time Act, largely thanks to the campaigning of William Willett. Willett, a British builder and avid golfer, argued in 1907 that “the waste of early morning daylight” was costing the nation. His proposal eventually became law, aligning the UK with other European nations during the war.

Fast‑forward to 1995, the European Union standardized the start and end dates for daylight saving across its members. Although the UK left the EU in 2020, it retained the same schedule—last Sunday in March forward, last Sunday in October back—because it simply works.

Exact timing and how it’s decided

According to the official schedule maintained by Royal Observatory Greenwich, the clocks will strike back at 02:00:00 am GMT on 26 October 2025. At that moment, time will jump to 01:00:00 am standard time. The same rule applies every year: advance one hour at 01:00 am on the last Sunday in March, retreat one hour at 02:00 am on the last Sunday in October.

To make it crystal clear, here’s the upcoming timeline:

• 30 March 2025 – clocks go forward (BST begins).
• 26 October 2025 – clocks go back (BST ends).
• 30 March 2026 – next spring forward.

The event itself—"End of British Summer Time 2025"—is recorded as an End of British Summer Time 2025London. That micro‑data helps search engines understand the exact moment and place of the transition.

What the change means for daily life

For most people, the practical effect is simple: an extra hour of sleep on the night of the change. But the shift also moves an hour of daylight from the evening to the morning. In London, sunrise will slide from roughly 07:45 am on 25 October to about 07:00 am on 26 October, while sunset will retreat from around 16:45 pm to 16:00 pm.

By December, after the autumnal shift, the capital experiences some of the darkest mornings of the year—sunrise can be as late as 08:06 am, and daylight dwindles to under eight hours per day, according to data compiled by The Independent.

“The fall‑back gives us a bit more daylight in the mornings, which can be a safety boost for commuters,” notes Sarah Carter, public outreach officer at Royal Observatory Greenwich. “But it also means evenings feel noticeably shorter, which can affect everything from retail footfall to evening exercise routines.”

Regional nuances across the United Kingdom

While the whole of the United Kingdom follows the same legal time, the experience differs from the Scottish Highlands to the coast of Cornwall. In Inverness, sunrise on 26 October will be around 07:20 am, whereas in Plymouth it will be closer to 07:45 am. The disparity stems from the country’s 248,531 km² breadth.

Overseas territories follow their own daylight‑saving rules. For instance, the Falkland Islands also observe a one‑hour shift but on a different schedule, reflecting their distinct longitudinal position.

Economic and societal impact

Light saving time isn’t just about sleep; it has measurable economic effects. A 2022 study by the UK Office for National Statistics linked the autumnal clock change to a 0.3 % dip in retail sales the week after the shift, attributing it to shorter evening shopping hours. Conversely, the extra morning light is said to reduce road accidents by roughly 2 % in the immediate week following the change.

Energy usage, once touted as a primary benefit of BST, appears marginal in modern Britain. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy reported that the average household’s electricity consumption changes by less than 1 % due to the clock shift.

What experts say about the future of BST

There’s a growing chorus calling for the UK to ditch the twice‑yearly switch altogether. Meteorologist Dr. Emma Hughes of the Met Office explains, “With climate change altering daylight patterns, the historic rationale for BST is less clear. A permanent GMT would simplify things, but it would also mean darker winter evenings.”

Meanwhile, the UK Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee is holding a series of hearings in early 2026 to examine whether the country should adopt “British Summer Time all year round,” a proposal that would keep the clock permanently set to UTC+01:00.

Key facts you need right now

• Exact fall‑back time: 02:00 am GMT on 26 October 2025.
• Number of people affected: ~67 million across the UK.
• Sunrise in London after the change: ~07:00 am; December sunrise as late as 08:06 am.
• Historical origin: Introduced in 1916 after William Willett’s 1907 proposal.
• Future review: Parliamentary hearings scheduled for early 2026.