Summer's coming! Clocks go forward one hour this weekend

The Netherlands is heading into summertime, which means it's time to adjust the clocks. Clocks go forward one hour at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 27.

The Netherlands has been on daylight savings since 1916, though its rules changed here and there. There were no daylight savings at all from 1946 to 1976. Since 1996, the Netherlands has been adjusting its clock on the last weekend in March and the last weekend in October.

The intention behind daylight savings time was to allow people to make more use of the available daylight and save on electric lighting. However, opponents believe that this does not outweigh the disruption to people's biological clock, which can cause sleep and concentration problems, among other things.

European Parliament voted for ending daylight savings time a few years ago but postponed the implementation. The Member States should be able to decide for themselves whether they want to permanently be on summer time or winter time, but the European Parliament also wants to avoid a jumble of different time zones. The plan is on the backburner for the time being.