Lithuania to switch to summer time this weekend

Lithuania will switch to summer time this weekend, the country’s national broadcaster LRT reported on Sunday.

At 03:00 on Sunday morning, clocks will be moved forward by one hour, marking the start of summer time. The change will remain in effect for seven months, until the end of October, when Lithuania will revert to winter time.

In 2018, the European Union proposed ending seasonal clock changes and adopting a single time standard. While Lithuania has expressed support for the idea of maintaining permanent summer time, the government has not pushed for an EU-wide decision due to differing positions among member states.

In a 2018 public consultation, 84 percent of the 6.4 million Europeans who participated supported ending the practice of changing clocks. The European Parliament endorsed the reform in 2019, but opposition from several EU countries has since stalled the initiative.

Northern EU countries have repeatedly raised concerns about the impact of time changes on public health, citing studies suggesting that roughly 20 percent of Europeans experience negative physical or psychological effects from the biannual clock adjustments.