Summer time ends at 4.00 am on Sunday October 27 and watches and clocks must be moved back one hour, the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry said today.

The change will take effect throughout the European Union.

Under a European Commission proposal adopted in September 2019 and backed by the European Parliament, the European Union plans to stop clock changes in 2021.

EU law has required all countries in the bloc to observe daylight saving time, moving clocks forward by an hour on the last Sunday of March and back by an hour on the final Sunday in October.

Under the new regime, every member state will have the right to choose whether to continue with the daylight saving time throughout the year or keep standard time.

The practice of switching the clocks, also observed in countries such as the United States, was first introduced in World War One to save energy by prolonging evening daylight in summer.