Clocks in Bulgaria Will Go Back an Hour on 26 October

The transition to standard (astronomical) time will take place at 04:00 on 26 October 2025, when clocks will be set back by one hour, the Bulgarian Institute of Metrology said on October 14.

The change is being implemented in accordance with Directive 2000/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union of 19 January 2021, the institution reminded.

The switch between summer and winter time in Bulgaria is regulated by a Council of Ministers Decree of 13 March 1997. According to the decree, winter time begins on the night preceding the last Sunday of October, when clocks are turned back by one hour, and summer time begins on the last Sunday of March, when clocks are turned forward by one hour.

The practice of adjusting clocks in Europe was introduced in 1976 at the request of France. The idea of changing the time was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin, who, in a letter to the editor of the Journal de Paris in 1784, suggested that Parisians should rise and go to bed earlier. In Bulgaria, the practice was introduced in 1979.

In practice, the concept was first implemented by the German government during the First World War, between 30 April and 1 October 1916, as a fuel-saving measure in wartime conditions. The United Kingdom was the second country to adopt daylight saving time, applying it from 21 May to 1 October 1916, and the United States followed suit in 1918.

In March 2019, the European Parliament voted in favour of abolishing the seasonal clock changes, but EU Member States have yet to decide whether to adopt permanent summer time or permanent winter time.