GREECE TIME CHANGE 2024 - From Summer Time to Winter Time in Greece!

Greece, as most of Europe, sets the clocks backward one hour in October 2024, when Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends and Winter Time starts. The time change will take place on the last Sunday of October, specifically the morning of Sunday, October 27th, when the clocks strike 4:00 AM. At that time, we will need to turn them back one hour to 3:00 AM.

Local time for the change is different in each time zone. European countries synchronize their DST, which starts on the last Sunday of March and ends on the last Sunday of October. Participating countries are: The European Union (EU), including Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom and most other European countries, including Norway and Switzerland.  Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Iceland, Russia, and Turkey don't use DST any more but remain on standard time all year. In 2016, Turkey decided to end DST permanently. The Turkish occupied territory of Northern Cyprus still follows the rest of Cyprus and will set the clocks backward one hour on October 27.

In September 2018, the European Commission issued a draft directive to permanently scrap DST in the EU. In a public survey, more than 80% of 4.6 million respondents voted to put an end to seasonal clock changes altogether, but the EU Member States called for more time before putting an end to the practice. On 4 March 2019, the European Parliament Transport and Tourism Committee approved the Commission's proposal by 23 votes to 11. The start date has been however postponed until 2021 and the Commission should ensure that countries' decisions to retain winter or summer time are coordinated and do not disrupt the internal market. The change of time so far should stop on the last Sunday of March 2021 for the countries of the European Union, which want to maintain the summer time permanently, while for the Member States that prefer the winter time, the final time change should take place on the last Sunday of October of the same year. However, negotiations have not yet started in the European Council, making it very unlikely for the new rules—even if agreed rapidly—to apply even in 2024! So on Sunday, 27 October 2024, 4:00 a.m., clocks are turned backward 1 hour to 3:00 a.m., local standard time instead.