Daylight saving time is the practice of moving clocks forward by one hour in the spring and back one hour in autumn. The main goal is to have more daylight in the summer months when people spend more time outdoors. It was first introduced by Germany and Austria during World War I , to save coal and electricity.


Today, daylight saving time is much discussed  because energy savings seem to be very small.

Daylight saving time is mainly used in Europe and North America, as well as the southern parts of Australia. Most countries near the equator don’t use daylight saving time because day and night don’t change much during the year.


daylight saving time

Use of Daylight Saving Time
Image:TimeZonesBoy, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons, modified by Klaus Rosmanitz



Words

  • equator = line around the middle of the Earth
  • electricity = the power that is carried by wires and cables and which is used to give light or run machines
  • formerly used = used at some time in the past
  • goal = what you want to achieve
  • hemisphere = half of the Earth
  • introduce = here: to use for the first time
  • practice = something that is done in a certain way
Last modified: Thursday, 14 May 2026, 5:55 AM