Summer Time in Europe for 2024 to Start This Weekend

Another confirmation that spring is indeed  here comes this Sunday when Europeans spring forward.

This weekend, clocks in the European Union will change on Sunday at 1 a.m. GMT. At that time, which is 2 a.m. in Central Europe, clocks should be set ahead by one hour.

In the United States, Daylight Saving Time started two weeks earlier on March 17 at 2 a.m.

The change puts both sides of the Atlantic back in sync after a two-week period that followed the switch in most of the United States and Canada.

Summer Time, known as Sommerzeit in Austria and Germany and British Summer Time or BST in the United Kingdom, will end October 29, 2023 and return March 31, 2024. Daylight Saving Time in the United States and Canada will end November 5, 2023 and resume March 10, 2024.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t set all of your watches and clocks, it may not matter because time for many has stood still over the past two years.  To be honest, some of us may not be sure what day it is right now anyway.

Daylight Saving Time is a system of managing the changing amounts of daylight that occur during the year, with a goal of maximizing daylight hours during the typical workday. It was first proposed in a somewhat jocular manner by Benjamin Franklin in a 1784 essay entitled “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light,” wherein he calculated how much the citizens of Paris would save on candles by starting the day earlier. No one is sure if the good Dr. Franklin actually believed people would actually do this. In fact, we on the editorial staff believe not.

However, Daylight Saving Time was not broadly adopted until the early twentieth century when Germany became the first country to introduce it, on April 30, 1916, a move quickly followed by several other European nations including France and the United Kingdom.

The United States first established Daylight Saving Time in 1918 as an energy-saving measure.

By setting clocks ahead by an hour, people typically have more daylight available during the workday. Since in the spring the sun rises earlier each day, an individual who typically wakes at 7 a.m. would have to rise at 6 a.m. to take advantage of the additional daylight. Instead, by moving the clock ahead by one hour, that person can continue to rise at 7 a.m. and enjoy more daylight in the early evening hours.

In broader terms, the reduced use of artificial lighting saves a lot of electricity. Additionally, since Americans are able to spend more time outside during the dog days of summer, there’s theoretically less energy being used to power the TV or lower the AC thermostat. However, as devices become more energy efficient, the savings have become debatable.

So, when do we revert to Standard Time?

Daylight Savings Time – as we noted earlier – ends on the first Sunday in November. In 2024, that would be November 7. In Europe, Winter Time begins on the last Sunday of October, which would be October 27.

Finally, don’t forget about your analog wristwatches and clocks as well as the digital variety such as alarm clocks and kitchen appliances – they will not adjust themselves – and you don’t even have to wear a mask while doing it.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)