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Why Iceland hasn’t changed its clocks since 1968

Iceland keeps the same time all year and lives with its clocks ahead of the sun. Why it made that choice, and what it means for visitors.

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4 min read

Aerial view of Reykjavík covered in snow in January
Photo by Einar H. Reynis on Unsplash

In Reykjavík, the sun reaches its highest point in the sky at around 1:30 p.m., an hour and a half after the noon we learn about at school. The reason goes back to a decision made in 1968: Iceland stopped switching its clocks between summer and winter and has stayed on Greenwich time (UTC) all year ever since.

A time zone that doesn’t match the map

In theory, time zones follow the sun. Every 15 degrees of longitude is worth one hour. Reykjavík sits close to 22 degrees west of Greenwich, which by that math would put it about an hour and a half behind London.

Iceland once used a time closer to that, one hour behind Greenwich, with daylight saving time in the summer months. In 1968 the country decided to keep summer time permanently. In practice, that means living with the clock ahead of the sun all year round.

What it changes day to day

With the clock running ahead, the day starts later than the time on your phone suggests. In winter, around the December solstice, the sun rises in Reykjavík after 11 a.m. and sets at around 3:30 p.m. That’s about four hours of daylight, shifted toward the afternoon. Anyone heading to school or work at 8 a.m. makes the trip in the dark.

Summer flips the effect. In June, the sun sets close to midnight and comes back up around 3 a.m. The night never gets fully dark. The advanced clock pushes even more of that light into the evening, and daylight at 11 p.m. is part of normal life.

An argument that keeps coming back

Icelandic sleep researchers have argued for years that the clock should be set back an hour, closer to the sun. Their case is that the body wakes up better with morning light, and that dark winter mornings take a toll on sleep, especially for teenagers.

In January 2019 the government opened a public consultation on the question. Around 1,600 people took part, and 56% of them backed setting the clocks back. People who want to keep the current time tend to point to the light late in the day, which many value, and to staying close to the UK and the rest of Europe, which helps with business and flight schedules. In 2020 the Prime Minister’s office concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to justify the change, and the clocks stayed as they were.

Iceland isn’t the only one

Clocks out of step with the sun are more common than you might think. On the map, Spain lines up with the UK and Portugal, yet it has used Central European Time since 1940, when it adopted the same time zone as Germany. That helps explain why Spaniards eat lunch and dinner so late, at least by the clock: the sun there runs late too.

China goes further. The whole country runs on Beijing time, even though it spans a distance that, by the usual rule, would call for five time zones. In the far west, in Xinjiang, the sun can rise after 9 a.m. in winter, and many residents use a local time two hours behind the official one in daily life.

What this means if you’re visiting

  • In winter, plan outdoor time around the middle of the afternoon. Usable daylight runs roughly from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Save the drives, waterfalls and hikes for that window.
  • Don’t be thrown by darkness at 10 a.m. It’s normal, and cafés and museums open as usual.
  • In summer, pack a sleep mask. Plenty of hotels have blackout curtains, but not all of them, and a bright sky at 2 a.m. keeps many visitors awake.
  • You won’t need to change your watch mid-trip. Iceland keeps the same time in January and in July.

The next time someone tells you the sun is at its highest at noon, remember that in Reykjavík it gets there an hour and a half later.

Sources

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