The next time change will be to return to summer time, in spring 2024. When exactly? Will we move back or move forward with our shows?
After the switch to winter time at the end of October 2023, it is the time change for switch to summer time which will occur end of March 2024. As a reminder, it is 1975 that the president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing has decided that the watches would be advances of one hour in winter on Greenwich Mean Time. In the world, a sixty countries apply seasonal schedule changes. Several countries abandoned him like Tunisia, Egypt, Russia, Ukraine, IcelandArmenia… This highly contested measure was due to end in France but it continues to apply.
What are the dates for time changes in 2024?
Like every year, the 2024 time changes will occur on the last weekend of March for the switch to summer time and the last weekend of October for the switch to winter time.
► Summer time change date 2024 : Sunday March 31, 2024
► Winter time change date 2024 : Sunday October 27, 2024
“When we switch to winter time, we let’s see the night earlier, our melatonin will be secreted earlier and we will want to sleep sooner The evening, explains Dr Catherine Lamblin, sleep doctor. In 2-3 days, the body normally begins to get used to at the new time“.
How do I know if we’re moving forward or backward by an hour?
That’s always the big question! When switching to winter time, we go back one hour. When we switch to summer time, you have to move the hands forward of our one hour watch (a complete turn as in the clock image below). Here is a mnemonic to remember:
>> The changeover to summer time takes place around the month ofA.V.ril, we A.V.ance therefore of one hour
>> The changeover to winter time takes place in OctoberD, we Dtherefore an hour later.
When will the time change end in France?
The time change has become common to the majority of Member States of the European Union since 1998 but the system is increasingly criticized. At the request of the European Parliament, the European Commission organized during thesummer 2018, an online consultation. From 4.6 million Europeans who participated, 84% were against the time change.
The day after the time change, “It would be better listen to our body and go to bed when we feel tiredeven if it is not always easy with professional or family constraints“, advises Dr Catherine Lamblin, sleep doctor. The transition to winter time disrupts the functioning of hormones which “will take a few days to settle into the new rhythm“. “When we switch to winter time, we perceive the night earlier, our melatonin will be secreted earlier and we will want to sleep sooner The evening. On the other hand, we will normally have a little easier getting up in the morningspecifies our interlocutor. In 2-3 days, the body normally begins to get used to the new time“.
Children are particularly sensitive to changes in sleep patterns. To help him adapt smoothly, you should try to‘anticipate the time change by gradually shifting key moments of the day such as meals, nap time, bath time, bedtime, etc.
► For winter time: we delay meals and bedtime by a quarter of an hour 4 days before the transition to winter time. We don’t hesitate to use a dawn simulator to make waking up easier.
► For summer time: Meals and bedtime are brought forward by a quarter of an hour 4 days before the change to summer time. For example, on the first day, we eat at 12:30 p.m., the second day at 12:15 p.m., the third day at 12 p.m. and the fourth day at 11:45 a.m. We close the shutters tightly so that the child is not disturbed by daylight.
Since when has there been a time change in France?
The time change is a measure that was introduced for the first time in France in 1916, after Germany and the United Kingdom, with the aim of saving energy resources such as coal. She was abandoned from 1945 to 1975then was re-established in 1976, after the oil crisis of 1973 in the face of soaring oil prices. It was aboutsave electricity produced at the time mainly by fuel oil, thanks to one hour more natural sunlight in the evenings. In 1975, President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing decides that watches will be advanced by one hour on Greenwich Mean Time in winter and by two hours during summer in order to reduce electricity use to light up. THE decree of September 19, 1975 formalizes the time change in mainland France. Overseas, the time change does not apply except in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. Since 1998THE time change dates have been harmonized within the European Union. In all member countries, the switch to winter time takes place on the last Sunday in October and the switch to summer time, the last Sunday in March.