On the last Sunday of October we will get an hour of sleep, as the time change measures will continue as usual this year. The time change to winter time will take place on 27.10.24 and, when the clock shows 04:00 AM, we should turn the hands of the clock to 03:00 AM.
Regarding the time change, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport states the following: “We remind you that on Sunday, 27 October 2024, the application of the summer time measure will expire, in accordance with Directive 2000/84 of the European Parliament and of the Council of EE 19/01/2001, regarding summer time provisions. The clock hands must be moved back one hour, ie from 04:00 AM. at 03:00 am.”
When was the time change first implemented?
In Greece, the time change was implemented for the first time, on a trial basis, in 1932, specifically from July 6 to September 1, 1932, when the clocks were set one hour ahead. The time change, initially adopted for reasons of energy conservation and also applicable in countries such as the United States (in France since 1976), has provoked strong reactions for years.
Its critics cite scientific research that links the time change to diseases of the cardiovascular or immune system, due to disruption of the biological cycle, while at the same time they argue that no energy savings are observed anymore.
It is worth noting that the European Parliament voted in March 2019 in favor of ending this particular practice, i.e. adjusting the clocks by one hour in spring and autumn, from 2021.
“Time change must end” the then head of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, typically announced in 2018, after a relevant EU-wide online survey in which 84% of those agreed who participated in the survey to end the practice.