Iceland does not observe Daylight Saving Time
Iceland has stayed on UTC year-round since 1968. At its latitude the difference between midsummer and midwinter daylight is so extreme that shifting the clock by an hour would make little difference.
Iceland stays on GMT for the whole year.
Countdown to the next change
Spring transition
Lose an hour of sleep, gain an hour of evening daylight
Autumn transition
Gain an hour of sleep as standard time returns
Longer evenings
Sunset falls an hour later through the summer months
Earlier sunrises
Winter mornings get light sooner once the clocks go back
Did you know?
- Arizona and Hawaii are the only US states that skip DST statewide, along with the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the US Virgin Islands.
- The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended US DST by four weeks starting in 2007, moving the start to the second Sunday in March and the end to the first Sunday in November.
- Roughly 70 countries use some form of DST, but they are concentrated in Europe and North America. Most of Africa and Asia do not.
Frequently asked questions
When do the clocks change in Iceland in 2025?
They do not. Iceland does not observe Daylight Saving Time.
Which way do the clocks go?
"Spring forward, fall back" is the usual mnemonic: forward one hour in spring, back one hour in autumn.
Do I have to change anything myself?
Phones, computers and anything that syncs over the internet update on their own. Car clocks, ovens, microwaves and older wall clocks generally do not.
Is Daylight Saving Time being scrapped?
It has been proposed in many places and adopted in few. The European Parliament voted in 2019 to end mandatory clock changes and the change has stalled; in the United States the Sunshine Protection Act has repeatedly passed the Senate without becoming law. Most of the world that changes its clocks is still changing them.