When does daylight saving start and end in the US?

Per the US Department of Transportation, US daylight saving time begins the second Sunday of March and ends the first Sunday of November each year.

When does it start and end in the EU?

The EU's summer-time arrangement begins the last Sunday of March and ends the last Sunday of October, under a common directive that applies across member states.

Does this mean the US-EU time gap changes during the year?

Yes, briefly. Because the two regions switch on different Sundays, there are a few weeks each spring and fall where only one side has changed its clocks, temporarily shifting the usual offset between, say, New York and London by an hour until the other region catches up.

Do all US states and EU countries observe daylight saving?

No. In the US, Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii don't observe it. Within the EU, the directive applies to all member states uniformly, but some neighboring non-EU European countries and territories worldwide opt out of DST entirely.

Guide

Daylight Saving Time Rules: How the US and EU Differ

The US and EU both spring forward and fall back — but on different Sundays, which briefly changes the time gap between them twice a year.

By Buğra SözeriPublished September 25, 2026

Daylight saving time feels like a shared global ritual, but the US and EU don’t flip their clocks on the same date. Both regions spring forward in March and fall back later in the year — the specific Sundays are different, which creates a short, predictable window each year where the usual time gap between, say, Chicago and Berlin briefly changes.

The US rule

Per the US Department of Transportation, which has statutory authority over the schedule, US daylight saving time runs from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November. Clocks move forward one hour at the March transition and back one hour in November.

The EU rule

The EU’s summer-time arrangement, coordinated across member states, runs from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October. The dates are set by a common EU directive rather than by each country individually, which is why the whole bloc transitions on the same day.

Why the mismatch matters

Because the US ends daylight saving about a week after the EU, and starts it about a week or two before the EU, there are two short annual windows where the typical offset between, for example, New York and London shifts by an hour from what you’d otherwise expect:

Window	What happens
Mid-to-late March	US has sprung forward; EU hasn't yet — the US-EU gap temporarily narrows by an hour.
Late October to early November	EU has fallen back; US hasn't yet — the gap temporarily widens by an hour.

Outside those windows, the usual offset (for instance, five hours between US Eastern Time and Central European Time in winter) holds steady.

Why manual date math gets this wrong

Because the exact Sunday shifts every year, hardcoding a fixed date for “when DST starts” breaks within twelve months. Software that needs to be correct year after year relies on the IANA Time Zone Database, which encodes the actual rule (“second Sunday of March,” not a specific date) rather than a one-off calendar entry — the same source our timezone converter reads from. For the broader distinction between a fixed offset and a rule-based zone name, see our UTC offset vs. time zone name guide.

Frequently asked questions

When does daylight saving start and end in the US?: Per the US Department of Transportation, US daylight saving time begins the second Sunday of March and ends the first Sunday of November each year.
When does it start and end in the EU?: The EU's summer-time arrangement begins the last Sunday of March and ends the last Sunday of October, under a common directive that applies across member states.
Does this mean the US-EU time gap changes during the year?: Yes, briefly. Because the two regions switch on different Sundays, there are a few weeks each spring and fall where only one side has changed its clocks, temporarily shifting the usual offset between, say, New York and London by an hour until the other region catches up.
Do all US states and EU countries observe daylight saving?: No. In the US, Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii don't observe it. Within the EU, the directive applies to all member states uniformly, but some neighboring non-EU European countries and territories worldwide opt out of DST entirely.

Sources & references

Authoritative references cited by this piece. Verified by Buğra Sözeri on the dates shown and re-checked at every deploy.

US Department of Transportation — Daylight Saving Time — Federal authority on the US daylight saving schedule (second Sunday of March to first Sunday of November)(as of 2026-09-25)
European Commission — Summer time arrangements in the EU — EU-wide summer-time directive setting the last Sunday of March/October transition dates(as of 2026-09-25)
IANA Time Zone Database (tzdata) — Machine-readable source of DST transition rules for every region, used by the timezone converter(as of 2026-09-25)