When do we set our clocks back an hour? Time change 2025 daylight saving time start and end
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Get ready for those dark and gloomy late afternoons. Of course the sun has already been setting earlier and earlier, but soon we will turn clocks back an hour for the 2025 fall time change. Here’s when and what to know about the end of daylight saving time.
Many countries around the world and most of the United States still observe the practice of turning the clocks forward or backward an hour, in the effort to extend daylight hours seasonally, though some argue the practice should be brought to an end.
In April, President Donald Trump urged Congress to make DST permanent in a Truth Social post, “The House and Senate should push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day. Very popular and, most importantly, no more changing of the clocks, a big inconvenience and, for our government, A VERY COSTLY EVENT!!!”
However, that April post followed a previous post by Trump in December 2024, when he said he would work to end DST and make standard time permanent. And in between those posts, in March, he called the issue “50/50,” noting that some people prefer permanent DST while others prefer permanent standard time.
The difference is DST would mean later sunrises and sunsets, allowing for more time for outdoor activities after work in the evenings, whereas standard time would mean earlier sunrises and sunsets, which some argue increase safety in the mornings for school children and is more in line with our biological circadian rhythms, according to savestandardtime.
DST is approximately eight months, starting on the second Sunday of March and ending on the first Sunday of November.
The push to make DST permanent is not new and has been reintroduced multiple times as the Sunshine Protection Act, which would establish permanent DST across the country, extending daylight saving time from eight months of the year to the full year.
The Sunshine Protection Act passed the senate in 2022 but stalled in the House. It was reintroduced in January 2025 but has not passed.
Here’s what to know about daylight saving time, when it happens and what states observe it.
When is daylight savings time fall 2025?
Daylight saving time will end on Nov. 2, in 2025 at 2 a.m., at which time it will reset to 1 a.m.
Why do we change the clocks every year?
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the idea behind daylight saving time was to give us more daylight during the summer evenings and then move it back to give us more daylight during winter mornings.
Will we lose an hour or gain an hour when DST ends?
In the fall, clocks fall back one hour. You will gain an extra hour of potential sleep or play.
In the spring, clocks spring forward one hour. You will have lost an hour when you awake that morning.
When is the shortest day of 2025? Winter solstice 2025
The winter solstice will bring us the shortest day of the year on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, with approximately 9 hours, 17 minutes of daylight.
To check how many hours of sunlight you’ll get and the sunrise/sunset times in your area, click here.
What states observe daylight saving time?
Pennsylvania is among the majority of states that observe daylight saving time, but there are exceptions.
Hawaii and parts of Arizona do not participate in daylight saving time. The territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands also do not participate.
Maria Francis is a Pennsylvania-based journalist who covers trending topics across the Mid-Atlantic region.
