Finland and most of the European Union switched back to standard time last Sunday, but one European country has avoided the twice-yearly ritual for almost six decades.
Iceland does not change its clocks at all. The country abandoned the switch between summer and winter time in 1968, according to Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
Iceland had previously used seasonal clock changes between 1917 and 1921 and again from 1939 until 1968.
In April 1968, the clocks were moved forward by one hour for the final time. Iceland then permanently adopted Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT.
In practice, this means the country observes the same time throughout the year.
Its time difference with Finland still changes, however, because Finland continues to switch between standard time and daylight saving time.
During Finland’s standard time, Iceland is two hours behind. During daylight saving time, the difference increases to three hours.
EU has still not agreed to end clock changes
The European Union has discussed abandoning seasonal clock changes for years.
The European Parliament backed ending the practice in 2019, but the Council of the European Union, representing the member states, has still not reached a common position.
As a result, the current system remains in place. EU countries move their clocks forward on the last Sunday in March and back to standard time on the last Sunday in October.
Iceland is not a member of the European Union and is therefore not bound by the EU directive governing seasonal time changes.
That has allowed the country to avoid the twice-yearly clock change since 1968.