Portugal switches to winter time on October 25: Clocks will go back one hour

2026 daylight saving time in Portugal will end on Sunday, October 25. The clocks will go back one hour and the country will switch to winter time.

The date is confirmed by the calendar published by the Observatório Astronómico de Lisboa, which is responsible for keeping official time in Portugal: In 2026, summer time started on March 29 and will end on October 25. citeturn1search0

In mainland Portugal and Madeira, 02:00 will become 01:00 again

On the Portuguese mainland and in Madeira, the clocks will be turned back one hour to 01:00 on Sunday morning, October 25, at 02:00, which does not connect October 25 to October 26.

Thus, a one-hour episode in the same time zone will be experienced again.

In the Azores, the clocks will be set back to 00:00 at 01:00 local time. citeturn1search2

The time difference with Türkiye will also change

While Türkiye uses UTC+3 throughout the year, mainland Portugal switches to UTC during the winter.

For this reason, the two-hour difference between Türkiye and the Portuguese mainland in the summer will increase to three hours after the transition to winter time.

For example, when it is 09.00 in Lisbon, it will be 12.00 in Türkiye.

Since the Azores uses UTC-1 during the winter, the difference between Türkiye and the Azores will increase to four hours.

Phones usually change automatically

Smartphones, computers and many internet-connected devices make the change themselves as long as the correct time zone is selected and automatic date-time setting is turned on.

But automobile Clocks, some home appliances, analog clocks and devices not connected to the internet may need to be manually set back one hour.

It may also be useful for those who have flight, train, bus or other transportation reservations to check that their devices show the correct time zone for travel times on 25 October.

Why does Portugal still change time?

In the current system in Portugal, the summer time period begins on the last Sunday of March and ends on the last Sunday of October.

The legal time of mainland Portugal is UTC in winter and UTC+1 in summer. Madeira follows the same pattern. The Azores use UTC-1 in winter and UTC in summer. citeturn1search2

Therefore, although the removal of the seasonal time change in Europe has been discussed for years, the time change in Portugal has not been abolished for 2026. On October 25, the clocks will go back one hour as planned.

Resources

Observatório Astronómico de Lisboa — official time change calendar: Mudança da Hora — data até 2026

Observatório Astronómico de Lisboa — Hora Legal legislation in Portugal: Legislação sobre a Hora Legal

Postal — Miguel Frazão, 9 September 2026: Portugal vai mudar para o horário de inverno a 25 de outubro