Change time 2024: When should we turn our watches an hour ahead

Time counts backwards to turn the indicators of our clocks so that we can pass from winter time to summer. Spring usually takes place on the last Sunday of March, which this year is March 31. So when our clocks show 03.00 in the morning, then we’ll have to move the clock markers an hour ahead to show 04.00 in the morning, resulting in us losing an hour of sleep. The relevant communication from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport states: “We remind you that, on Sunday 31 March 2024, the application of the wintertime measure, in accordance with Directive 2000/84 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19/01/2001 on the provisions for wintertime expires. The clock indicators must be moved an hour ahead, i.e. from 03:00 a.m. to 04:00 a.m.’. Will the change of time be abolished twice a year? Similarly, on the last Sunday of October, which this year is October 27th, we pass from summer time to winter. So when the clocks show 04:00 in the morning, then we turn the indicators one hour back in order to show 03:00. It is, of course, recalled that the plenary of the European Parliament had proposed the abolition of the change of time to summer and winter since the last Sunday of March 2021. However, given that there were disagreements among the Member States, this proposal has not obtained legal effect. Thus, the habit of changing the hour twice a year will continue to take place normally until there is a final decision by the EU Council. Summer time was established in both the US and Europe in the 1980s on the occasion of the oil crisis, aiming to exploit sunlight for working hours and energy saving, and had also been a dominant issue during the two World Wars. According to historical reports, the first man to propose summer time was Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century, who found that waking up near the sunrise, he had more light in his house, since he did not need to light candles, which meant that he was “saving” energy. However, there are also some sources referring to George Hudson (end of the 19th century), an entomologist from New Zealand. After leaving work, Hudson wanted more sunlight to collect insects, and the change of time was the solution to his problem. Although the practice of changing time to summer is followed in more than 70 countries in the world, there are certain variations in the time when changes in clock indicators are made between countries belonging to the northern and southern hemispheres. However, there are two U.S. states that do not comply with the above rule. These states are Arizona and Hawaii, as sunlight falls for several hours of the day compared to the other states.