Clocks Go Back on Sunday: India Is Now 3½ Hours Ahead of Cyprus

If you ring home on Sunday evening and your relative sounds sleepier than usual, blame the clocks. Cyprus switches back to winter time this weekend, but India does not change its clocks at all, so from Sunday India will be three and a half hours ahead of us instead of two and a half.

What happens on Sunday

• In the small hours of Sunday 25 October, when it reaches 04:00, Cyprus turns its clocks back to 03:00, so you get an extra hour in bed.
• Cyprus moves from summer time to Eastern European Time (UTC+2), in line with the rest of the European Union. The Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry has confirmed the date.
• Anything that is online, like your phone or laptop, should sort itself out, provided its time setting is on automatic. Wall clocks, ovens, car dashboards and some older watches need changing by hand.
• Expect darker evenings from Sunday onwards, as sunset comes an hour earlier by the clock.

Why the gap with India grows

India runs on Indian Standard Time (UTC+5:30) all year round and does not use daylight saving. So when Cyprus drops from UTC+3 to UTC+2, the difference between the two countries widens by an hour, from 2½ hours to 3½ hours. It stays that way until Sunday 28 March 2027, when Cyprus puts its clocks forward again and the gap shrinks back to 2½ hours.

Quick conversions from Sunday

• 7:00 am in Cyprus = 10:30 am in India
• 9:00 am in Cyprus = 12:30 pm in India
• 1:00 pm in Cyprus = 4:30 pm in India
• 6:00 pm in Cyprus = 9:30 pm in India
• 8:00 pm in Cyprus = 11:30 pm in India
• 9:00 am in India = 5:30 am in Cyprus
• 6:00 pm in India = 2:30 pm in Cyprus

What this means for you

• Calls home: your usual after-dinner call now lands close to midnight in India. Late afternoon or early evening in Cyprus is kinder for parents and grandparents, and a weekend morning call reaches them around lunchtime.
• Working with India: if you work with colleagues or clients in India, a 9:30 am to 6:00 pm Indian office day now runs from 6:00 am to 2:30 pm Cyprus time, so the shared working window is shorter. Move regular meetings earlier in your day.
• Appointments and deadlines: Indian online services, bank helplines and exam or interview slots are usually given in IST. Take off 3½ hours to get Cyprus time. Appointments in Cyprus, including at the High Commission of India in Nicosia, stay in local time.
• Cricket and TV: Indian channels list start times in IST, so subtract 3½ hours to know when to switch on here.
• Children's online classes: if your child joins tuition or music lessons run from India, check the new Cyprus start time with the teacher this week.
• Body clock: the lost hour of evening light can make the first week feel long. Get some daylight in the morning and keep bedtimes steady.

Will Europe ever stop changing the clocks?

The idea of scrapping the twice-yearly change has been debated at EU level for years, but nothing has been put into practice, so the current system stays and the clocks will go forward again next spring.

Read also: Running on Two Time Zones: Burnout and Stress When You're an Indian Abroad

Sources: Politis, Sigmalive, Wikipedia