Kuwait doesn’t change its clocks; it stays on UTC+3 all year. Europe and North America, though, are about to leave summer time, which moves the gap between Kuwait and them by a full hour, and with it every call, meeting and video chat you have abroad.
The dates
- EU countries: summer time ends at 1:00 GMT on the last Sunday of October, which this year is 25 October 2026 (4:00 a.m. in Kuwait). The rule is set by EU Directive 2000/84/EC.
- UK: clocks go back to GMT the same day, 25 October.
- United States: daylight saving time ends at 2:00 a.m. local time on 1 November 2026, the first Sunday of November.
The gap with Kuwait, before and after
- London: 2 hours behind Kuwait now, 3 hours from 25 October.
- Paris, Berlin, Rome: 1 hour now, 2 hours from 25 October.
- Athens and Cyprus: same time as Kuwait now, 1 hour behind from 25 October.
- New York and Washington: 7 hours now, 8 hours from 1 November.
Who actually changes the clock?
Your phone and laptop don’t receive “local time” from the network. Time servers send Coordinated Universal Time only, and the operating system works out each zone’s local time from rules stored on the device. That is why the US National Institute of Standards and Technology says correct conversion depends on keeping the system updated.
Nothing changes on your screen in Kuwait. What changes is what your time means elsewhere:
- A recurring meeting set by someone in London at 10:00 their time will show up at 13:00 in your calendar from 26 October, not 12:00. The app moves it for you; trust the calendar, not your memory.
- A meeting you set in Kuwait time stays put for you but lands an hour earlier for the European side. Give them a heads-up if that squeezes their morning.
- The in-between week (25 October to 1 November) puts London and New York 4 hours apart instead of 5. Watch three-way calls.
- Flight times are always in each airport’s local time. Don’t convert them yourself; go by your booking.
Check that Date & time on your phone is set to automatic and that the latest system update is installed.
Photo: a wall clock on a white wall. By Eder Pozo Pérez, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: EU Directive 2000/84/EC on summer-time arrangements (Articles 2 and 3), EUR-Lex; “When do the clocks change?”, gov.uk; “Daylight Saving Time Rules”, NIST.
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