The clocks spring forward this Sunday, 29 March, with the UK entering British Summer Time at 1am. You’ll lose an hour of sleep, which is annoying enough on a normal weekend — but if you’re travelling, there are a few things worth knowing so it doesn’t catch you out.
In This Article
What Actually Happens
At 1am on Sunday morning, clocks jump straight to 2am. That hour between 1am and 2am simply doesn’t exist. For most people at home, the only consequence is feeling slightly groggy on Monday morning. But if you’re mid-journey, it gets more interesting.
Overnight Buses and Trains
This is where the clock change causes real headaches. If you’re on an overnight coach or train that’s scheduled to travel through the 1am-2am window, the service effectively loses an hour. National Express, Megabus, and overnight rail services adjust their schedules, but it can mean arriving an hour earlier than you’d expect by the clock — or the timetable looking odd because the 1:30am stop simply doesn’t happen in the usual way.
If you’ve got an overnight journey booked this Saturday night, check with your operator. Most handle it smoothly, but it’s worth confirming your arrival time won’t mess up any onward connections.
Flights — Don’t Panic
Here’s the good news: airlines display departure and arrival times in local time, and they’ve already accounted for the clock change in their schedules. Your ticket shows the correct times. You don’t need to do any mental arithmetic. Just make sure your phone updates automatically (it almost certainly will) and you’ll be fine.
The only real risk is if you’ve set a manual alarm on a clock or watch that doesn’t auto-update. If you’re catching an early Sunday morning flight, double-check you’re working with the right time. Missing a flight because of a clock change is the sort of mistake that’s funny when it happens to someone else.
The International Complications
Most European countries change their clocks on the same date as the UK, so if you’re heading to France, Spain, Germany, or Italy this weekend, the time difference stays the same. No surprises there.
But not every country observes daylight saving time. Turkey, for example, stopped changing its clocks in 2016 and stays on permanent summer time. Japan, India, and South Africa don’t observe DST either. If you’re calling ahead to a hotel or booking a transfer in any of these countries, remember that the time difference between the UK and your destination has just shifted by an hour.
The United States is also worth noting — they changed their clocks two weeks ago on 9 March. So if you’ve been dealing with an unusual time gap with American contacts or services recently, that’ll now snap back to normal.
The Practical Travel Tip
There’s an old piece of advice that still works brilliantly: change your watch to your destination’s time the moment you board your plane, train, or coach. It forces your brain to start adjusting immediately and reduces the chance of any confusion on arrival. It’s particularly useful for transatlantic flights between the US and Europe, where the combination of DST changes and multiple time zones can genuinely muddle your planning.
The Silver Lining
Yes, you lose an hour this weekend. But you gain longer evenings, lighter mornings (eventually), and that unmistakable feeling that summer travel season is properly on its way. If the clock change gets you thinking about European trips, that’s probably the point.
Set your alarms, check your bookings, and enjoy the extra daylight. We’ve earned it after this winter.