Daylight saving time ended in the United States on Sunday, giving most Americans an extra hour as clocks were turned back at 2am local time. The change came overnight after Halloween, allowing late-night revellers more time at costume parties or an additional hour of sleep.
The move returned the majority of the country to standard time, when daylight arrives earlier in the morning but fades sooner in the evening. In Boston, for example, sunrise shifted from 7.16am before the change to 6.17am afterwards, while sunset moved from 5.39pm to 4.37pm.
When will daylight saving time begin again?
Daylight saving time will resume on Sunday 14 March 2027, at 2am local time. The start date falls on the second Sunday of March, while the clocks were moved back on the first Sunday of November.
The current timetable was introduced in 2007, extending daylight saving time beyond its previous end date on the last Sunday of October. The period places clocks one hour ahead of standard time during the spring and summer months.
The system was first adopted nationally in 1918 during the First World War, when the aim was to conserve fuel. It was repealed after the war, although states were allowed to continue observing it, leading to different local arrangements until Congress established uniform start and end dates in 1966.
Congress later introduced year-round daylight saving time during the Second World War and again during the energy crisis of the 1970s. Both experiments were short-lived, with continuous daylight saving time abandoned before reaching ten months.
Could the US adopt year-round daylight saving time?
The Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, cleared the House in July and was sent to the Senate. It would also allow states to opt out of daylight saving time altogether before the proposed change took effect.
President Trump supports the legislation and accused Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas of delaying it. Mr Trump posted what he said was Mr Cotton’s mobile phone number on social media and urged people to contact him in support of the bill.
Mr Cotton responded that Congress had tried permanent daylight saving time before, only to restore the twice-yearly clock change after Americans experienced “absurdly late sunrises in the winter”.
The bill faces a deadline because legislation awaiting approval is due to expire in early January when the new class of lawmakers elected in the midterm elections takes office. If it fails, supporters would have to begin the process again in both chambers before the measure could reach the president.
Which parts of the US do not change their clocks?
Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe daylight saving time. The Navajo Nation, which extends into Arizona, does follow the clock change so that it remains aligned with communities in neighbouring New Mexico and Utah.
American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands also remain on standard time throughout the year.
Phones set to update automatically should have changed overnight. Parents of young children, however, may find that the shift temporarily disrupts established sleep schedules.
