In the early hours of this Sunday, 26th October, the clocks go back 60 minutes, at 02:00 in the mainland and in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, and at 01:00 in the Azores. Portugal is now aligned with universal time (Greenwich mean time, TMG), according to information from the Lisbon Astronomical Observatory.
Being aligned with universal time means that it is in time zone 0, that is, equal to the Greenwich meridian, near London, which is conventionally used as a marker for time.
The time change takes place in all countries of the European Union, at the same time, but there are countries that are not part of the group of “28” who chose to follow the same rules.
In fact, in Europe, only a few Eastern countries do not set their clocks back one hour this Sunday, nor do they advance them again in March. Russia has not changed the time since 2011 and, last year, Crimea, which belonged to Ukraine, he chose to join Moscow and made the switch to Russian time a national event.
In Africa, the time is unchanged in most countries, as is the case in Asia, where only five countries move clocks, and in Oceania.
On the other side of the world, on the American continent, there are more countries that also have winter and summer time.
In Europe, the norm began in 1916, at the time of World War I, and aimed to save fuel at a time when it was rationed.
Currently, there is no longer an economic impact, but only a social one, as working hours coincide more with sunlight. Even so, the European Union reassess the maintenance of summer and winter timetables every five years.
In Portugal, in 1992, the Government, then headed by Cavaco Silva, adopted the central European timetable, but the option was much criticized. Because, in winter, the sun rose very late and, in summer, it was daytime until after 22 pm. From 00 onwards, the Government headed by António Guterres returned to the old method.
Today, the issue is no longer controversial in Portugal: the days will get dark earlier, but they will also dawn earlier.
And from Saturday night to Sunday, you can even sleep another hour! On Sunday March 29, 2015, we will return to daylight saving time.
According to the Official Journal of the European Commission, the winter timetable will come next year on the 25th of October, while in 2016, the legal time changes to the 27th of March (summer) and 30th of October (winter).
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