In Belgium, the switch to winter time will take place this weekend on the night of Saturday 28 October to Sunday 29 October 2023.
Across Europe, the UK, the US, and other countries, the clocks will go back an hour on Sunday morning, meaning that at 03:00 it will become 02:00 and Belgians will gain an hour's sleep. From this weekend onwards, it will be light earlier in the morning and dark earlier in the evening.
Winter time lasts until 31 March 2024, when it will switch back to daylight saving time, or summer time.
The current arrangement for summer time dates back to 1977, after having been abandoned after World War Two. By making the daylight hours coincide more with people's living patterns, the government hoped to save energy.
Those opposed to the practice point to the disruption of biorhythms and the resulting adverse health effects, such as heart attacks and strokes. Studies have also shown an increase in fatal car crashes due to sleep deprivation in the week after the time change.
Time for change?
In 2018, the European Commission proposed to abolish seasonal clock changes and adopt the same time all year round, following a public consultation in which several million European citizens called for the practice to end.
Clocks were planned to "switch" for a final time in 2021. However, Brexit and the Covid-19 crisis left little time to discuss clock changes and in June 2021 the Commission said there will be no abolition of summer and winter time in the "coming years."
When will the EU end these clock changes for good? Only time will tell.
