Daylight saving time (DST)

Daylight saving time (DST), also daylight savings time or daylight time (United States) and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months so that evening daylight lasts longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use daylight saving time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring and adjust them backward in the autumn. In effect, DST causes a lost hour of sleep in the spring and an extra hour of sleep in the fall.

DST is generally not observed near the equator, where sunrise times do not vary enough to justify it. Some countries observe it only in some regions; for example, parts of Australia observes it, while other parts do not. Only a minority of the world's population uses DST, because Asia and Africa generally do not observe it.

DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates and timings may be confusing.