# @(#)europe 7.2 # International country codes are used to identify countries' rules and # zones # # This data is by no means authoritative; if you think you know better, go # ahead and edit the file (and please send any changes to # ado@ncifcrf.gov for general use in the future). ############################################################################### # United Kingdom # From Peter Ilieve (peter@memex.co.uk) (July 4, 1989) # # From the UK Government paper "Summer Time: A Consultation Document" # (HMSO Cm722 June 1989), which is about the possibility of the UK moving # into the central European timezone and synchronising its summer time with # the rest of Europe (by moving the end date back a month to end Sep., # the start dates are already the same). # # Summer time was not observed before 1916. # It was introduced in the First World War in response to its introduction # by Germany in March 1916. # During the Second World War normal summer time was used in Winter and double # summer time was used in Summer. # Between 1968 and 1971 GMT+1 was used all year as an experiment. # This caused voluble objections in Scotland and the experiment was judged # a failure. # # Although it does not say what happens in Europe, it does say that most # of Europe did not use summer time until 1979, presumably dropping it # after the 1st and/or 2nd war. # # Note that this is not necessarily accurate for Eire. # # The paper gives a complete record of dates from 1916, and dates up to 1992. # The intention is to have the new system, if any, start in 1993. # The dates are (copied exactly from the table in the paper): # # Summer Time Double Summer Time # Year Start End Start End # 1916 21 May 1 October # 1917 8 April 17 September # 1918 24 March 30 September # 1919 30 March 29 September # 1920 28 March 25 October # (extended from # 27 Sep. because # of coal strike) # # 1921 3 April 3 October # 1922 26 March 8 October # 1923 22 April 16 September # 1924 30 April 21 September # 1925 to 3rd Sunday 1st Sunday # 1938 in April in October # # 1939 16 April 19 November # 1940 25 February continued # 1941 continued continued 4 May 10 August # 1942 continued continued 5 April 9 August # 1943 continued continued 4 April 15 August # 1944 continued continued 2 April 17 September # 1945 continued 7 October 2 April 15 July # # 1946 14 April 6 October # 1947 16 March 2 November 13 April 10 August # 1948 14 March 31 October # 1949 3 April 30 October # 1950 16 April 22 October # 1951 15 April 21 October # 1952 20 April 26 October # # 1953 19 April 4 October # 1954 11 April 3 October # 1955 17 April 2 October # 1956 15 April 7 October # 1957 14 April 6 October # 1958 20 April 5 October # 1959 19 April 4 October # 1960 10 April 2 October # # 1961 26 March 29 October # 1962 25 March 28 October # 1963 31 March 27 October # 1964 22 March 25 October # 1965 21 March 24 October # 1966 20 March 23 October # 1967 19 March 29 October # # 1968 18 February continued # 1969 continued continued # 1970 continued continued # 1971 continued 31 October # 1972 19 March 29 October # 1973 18 March 28 October # 1974 17 March 27 October # # 1975 16 March 26 October # 1976 21 March 24 October # 1977 20 March 23 October # 1978 19 March 29 October # 1979 18 March 28 October # 1980 16 March 26 October # 1981 29 March 25 October # # 1982 28 March 24 October # 1983 27 March 23 October # 1984 25 March 28 October # 1985 31 March 27 October # 1986 30 March 26 October # 1987 29 March 25 October # 1988 27 March 23 October # # 1989 26 March 29 October # 1990 25 March 28 October # 1991 31 March 27 October # 1992 29 March 25 October # # These dates agree with the ones from Whitaker's Almanac for 1960--87. . . # From Arthur David Olson (January 19, 1989): # # A source at the British Information Office in New York avers that it's # known as "British" Summer Time in all parts of the United Kingdom. # From an Anonymous U. K. Donor (January 4, 1989): # # It is NOT possible to predict when [British Summer Time] will change # in a future year. # # (The admiralty calculate when they think it should be (no more that a couple # of years in advance) and advise the government who then decide whether or # not they will take the admiralty's advice) # # ...the Gre[e]nwich...observatory...[was] very helpful. # # I was not able to track down the Admiralty formula (I tried hard but failed) # ... # Date: 4 Jan 89 08:57:25 GMT (Wed) # From: Jonathan Leffler <nih-csl!uunet!mcvax!sphinx.co.uk!john> # ... # [British Summer Time] is fixed annually by Act of Parliament. # If you can predict what Parliament will do, you should be in # politics making a fortune, not computing. # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S # 1916 to 1925--irregular Rule GB-Eire 1916 only - Mar 21 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1916 only - Oct 1 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1917 only - Apr 8 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1917 only - Sep 17 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1918 only - Mar 24 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1918 only - Sep 30 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1919 only - Mar 30 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1919 only - Sep 29 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1920 only - Mar 28 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1920 only - Oct 25 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1921 only - Apr 3 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1921 only - Oct 3 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1922 only - Mar 26 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1922 only - Oct 8 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1923 only - Apr 22 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1923 only - Oct 16 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1924 only - Apr 30 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1924 only - Sep 21 1:00s 0 GMT # 1925 to 1939 start--regular Rule GB-Eire 1925 1939 - Apr Sun>=15 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1925 1938 - Oct Sun>=1 1:00s 0 GMT # 1939 end to 1947--irregular, and with double summer time Rule GB-Eire 1939 only - Nov 19 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1940 only - Feb 25 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1941 only - May 4 1:00s 2:00 DST Rule GB-Eire 1941 only - Aug 10 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1942 only - Apr 5 1:00s 2:00 DST Rule GB-Eire 1942 only - Aug 9 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1943 only - Apr 4 1:00s 2:00 DST Rule GB-Eire 1943 only - Aug 15 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1944 only - Apr 2 1:00s 2:00 DST Rule GB-Eire 1944 only - Sep 17 1:00s 1:00 BST # Double daylight starts on a Monday in 1945? Rule GB-Eire 1945 only - Apr 2 1:00s 2:00 DST Rule GB-Eire 1945 only - Jul 15 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1945 only - Oct 7 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1946 only - Apr 14 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1946 only - Oct 6 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1947 only - Mar 16 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1947 only - Apr 13 1:00s 2:00 DST Rule GB-Eire 1947 only - Aug 10 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1947 only - Nov 2 1:00s 0 GMT # So much for double saving time. 1948 and 1949, irregular. Rule GB-Eire 1948 only - Mar 14 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1948 only - Oct 31 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1949 only - Apr 3 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1949 only - Oct 30 1:00s 0 GMT # 1950 through start of 1953, regular. Rule GB-Eire 1950 1953 - Apr Sun>=14 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1950 1952 - Oct Sun>=21 1:00s 0 GMT # 1954 to 1980, starting rules Rule GB-Eire 1954 only - Apr 11 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1955 1959 - Apr Sun>=14 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1960 only - Apr 10 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1961 1963 - Mar lastSun 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1964 1967 - Mar Sun>=19 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1968 only - Feb 18 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1972 1980 - Mar Sun>=16 1:00s 1:00 BST # 1953 to 1971, ending rules Rule GB-Eire 1953 1960 - Oct Sun>=1 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1961 1967 - Oct Sun>=23 1:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1971 only - Oct 31 1:00s 0 GMT # Current rules Rule GB-Eire 1981 max - Mar lastSun 1:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1972 max - Oct Sun>=23 1:00s 0 GMT # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES/SAVE FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone GB-Eire 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1968 Oct 27 1:00s 1:00 - BST 1971 Oct 31 1:00s 0:00 GB-Eire %s ############################################################################### # Continental Europe # The use of 1986 as starting years below is conservative. Rule W-Eur 1986 max - Mar lastSun 1:00s 1:00 " DST" Rule W-Eur 1986 max - Sep lastSun 1:00s 0 - Rule M-Eur 1986 max - Mar lastSun 2:00s 1:00 " DST" Rule M-Eur 1986 max - Sep lastSun 2:00s 0 - Rule E-Eur 1986 max - Mar lastSun 3:00s 1:00 " DST" Rule E-Eur 1986 max - Sep lastSun 3:00s 0 - Rule Turkey 1986 max - Mar lastSun 1:00 1:00 " DST" Rule Turkey 1986 max - Sep lastSun 1:00 0 - Rule W-SU 1986 max - Mar lastSun 2:00s 1:00 " DST" Rule W-SU 1986 max - Sep lastSun 2:00s 0 - # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES/SAVE FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone WET 0:00 W-Eur WET%s Zone Iceland 0:00 - WET Zone MET 1:00 M-Eur MET%s Zone Poland 1:00 W-Eur MET%s Zone EET 2:00 E-Eur EET%s Zone Turkey 3:00 Turkey EET%s Zone W-SU 3:00 M-Eur ???? # Tom Hoffman says that MET is also known as Central European Time Link MET CET ############################################################################### # One source shows that Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, and Greece observe DST from # the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in September in 1986. # The source shows Romania changing a day later than everybody else. # # According to Bernard Sieloff's source, Poland is in the MET time zone but # uses the WE DST rules. The Western USSR uses EET+1 and ME DST rules. # Bernard Sieloff's source claims Romania switches on the same day, but at # 00:00 standard time (i.e., 01:00 DST). It also claims that Turkey # switches on the same day, but switches on at 01:00 standard time # and off at 00:00 standard time (i.e., 01:00 DST) # ... # Date: Wed, 28 Jan 87 16:56:27 -0100 # From: seismo!mcvax!cgcha!wtho (Tom Hofmann) # Message-Id: <8701281556.AA22174@cgcha.uucp> # ... # # ...the European time rules are...standardized since 1981, when # most European coun[tr]ies started DST. Before that year, only # a few countries (UK, France, Italy) had DST, each according # to own national rules. In 1981, however, DST started on # 'Apr firstSun', and not on 'Mar lastSun' as in the following # years... # But also since 1981 there are some more national exceptions # than listed in 'europe': Switzerland, for example, joined DST # one year later, Denmark ended DST on 'Oct 1' instead of 'Sep # lastSun' in 1981---I don't know how they handle now. # # Finally, DST ist always from 'Apr 1' to 'Oct 1' in the # Soviet Union (as far as I know). # # Tom Hofmann, Scientific Computer Center, CIBA-GEIGY AG, # 4002 Basle, Switzerland # UUCP: ...!mcvax!cernvax!cgcha!wtho # ... # Date: Wed, 4 Feb 87 22:35:22 +0100 # From: seismo!mcvax!cwi.nl!dik (Dik T. Winter) # ... # # The information from Tom Hofmann is (as far as I know) not entirely correct. # After a request from chongo at amdahl I tried to retrieve all information # about DST in Europe. I was able to find all from about 1969. # # ...standardization on DST in Europe started in about 1977 with switches on # first Sunday in April and last Sunday in September... # In 1981 UK joined Europe insofar that # the starting day for both shifted to last Sunday in March. And from 1982 # the whole of Europe used DST, with switch dates April 1 and October 1 in # the Sov[i]et Union. In 1985 the SU reverted to standard Europe[a]n switch # dates... # # It should also be remembered that time-zones are not constants; e.g. # Portugal switched in 1976 from MET (or CET) to WET with DST... # Note also that though there were rules for switch dates not # all countries abided to these dates, and many individual deviations # occurred, though not since 1982 I believe. Another note: it is always # assumed that DST is 1 hour ahead of normal time, this need not be the # case; at least in the Netherlands there have been times when DST was 2 hours # in advance of normal time. # # ... # dik t. winter, cwi, amsterdam, nederland # INTERNET : dik@cwi.nl # BITNET/EARN: dik@mcvax # From Bob Devine (January 28, 1988): # ... # Greece: Last Sunday in April to last Sunday in September (iffy on dates). # Since 1978. Change at midnight. # ... # Monaco: has same DST as France. # ...