ora solare italia

Solar time 2024, hands 60 minutes back: when and how the time change will occur

There are now a few days left until the time changes with return to solar time: at 3:00 the night between Saturday 26 October and Sunday 27 October 2024 in Italy as throughout the European Union the hands of the clocks will have to be moved back an hourcatching up with the arrival of summer time in March. In this way we will be able to sleep an hour more and we will gain an hour of light in the early morning, at the cost of an hour less of light in the late afternoon.

Standard time is called that because follows the apparent motion of the sunplacing 12 o’clock (i.e. noon) around the time the sun reaches its highest point in the sky. It is therefore the “natural” time, while with thesummer time the time shifts forward by one hour: for example, the sun passes over the local meridian around 12 pm with solar time and around 1 pm with summer time. This choice takes advantage of the fact that in summer the sun rises very early to make less use of artificial lighting during the day. On the contrary, solar time allows you to take advantage of natural lighting in the early hours of the morning.

Standard time returns on October 27, 2024: we will sleep an hour more

Throughout the European Union, the transition between summer time and standard time is set atlast Sunday of Octoberwhich this year will be the 27th. Precisely the time range is foreseen in all EU countries at 1:00 UTC (coordinated universal time, i.e. Greenwich Mean Time), which in Italy corresponds to 3:00 in the morning. Daylight saving time will therefore be in effect until 3am on Sunday 27 September, when solar time will start and the hands will be moved back one hour, transforming 3:00 into 2:00. This will allow us to “gain” an hour of sleep and give us an extra hour of light in the early morning, as it brings the sunrise time forward by 60 minutes. For the same reason, sunset is also brought forward, thus postponing the arrival of twilight by 60 minutes.

Many clocks, such as those on our smartphones or computers, will update automatically without the need for intervention on our part. The other watches they should be moved back an hour.

Standard time will remain in effect until the last Sunday of March next year, i.e March 30, 2025when the hands will be moved forward one hour to 2:00.

Will summer time be abolished in Italy?

The alternation between summer time and standard time has advantages and disadvantages. According to an estimate of Ternathe company that owns the national electricity transmission grid, in 2023 summer time allowed a savings of 90 million euros for the Italian electricity system, a saving that extends to 2.1 billion euros since 2004 for a total of 11.3 billion kWh not used. On the other hand, several studies show possible impacts on health and in particular negative effects on sleep.

The debate on the abolition of the alternation between summer time and standard time has been going on since at least 2018the year in which the European Parliament asked the European Commission to evaluate the summer time directive. The evaluation led to a favorable vote in 2019 towards theabolition of the seasonal passage from solar time to summer time. After the pandemic, however, the directive was never revived, also because an agreement was never found in Italy on how to import a “fixed time” system.