Winter time starts: the clock is back one hour | Inland

Winter time is the standard time. On the shortest day of the year, December 21, it gets light around a quarter to nine and the sun sets around half past four. At the end of March, the clock is set one hour ahead in all EU countries. On June 21 it will be light around 5:30 PM and the sun will set around 10 PM. This so-called summer time is set to better match the hours that it is light in the summer months with the hours that people are awake. This would save electricity, because it stays light for an hour longer in the evening.

Opponents doubt this, and many people say that the time shifts physically bother them: it disrupts the biological clock. It is therefore expected that the six-monthly resetting of the clock will come to an end in the long term. A majority of the European Parliament wants it from 2021. The EU member states can decide for themselves whether to switch permanently to summer or winter time afterwards, but the parliament has adopted a postponement clause to avoid a tangle of different times.

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