World time is undergoing a fundamental reform. From May 20, 2027, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) will operate without leap seconds. This was decided by the 28th General Conference on Weights and Measures in October 2026. However, there is reassurance for people in Vienna and all of Austria: the clocks will not need to be adjusted due to this reform.

Since 1972, a total of 27 leap seconds have been added to balance differences between precise atomic time and the actual Earth’s rotation. This is because the Earth does not always take exactly 86,400 seconds for a complete rotation.

However, the additional seconds can cause technical problems. Especially computer systems, navigation services, and communication networks rely on the most consistent time measurement possible.

Recently, the Earth’s rotation has temporarily accelerated. This even brought the possibility of a negative leap second closer, where a second would have to be omitted.

As reported by the technology portal CHIP, the previous limit between Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and the time oriented to Earth’s rotation (UT1) will be significantly raised.

Instead of a maximum of 0.9 seconds, the difference may in the future be up to 3600 seconds. This corresponds to one hour.

Important: The clocks will not be set back by one hour. The new limit merely allows world time to continue for several centuries without leap seconds.

For the population, nothing changes immediately due to the reform. Austria will continue to use Central European Time (CET) and during the summer months, Central European Summer Time (CEST).

The usual switch between summer time and winter time also remains unaffected by the decision. The new rule exclusively concerns international timekeeping and not the seasonal time change.

The reform of world time is not the only planned innovation. By 2030, a new definition of the second is also to be prepared. The background is modern optical atomic clocks, which enable even more precise time measurement.

A final decision on the new definition is still pending. A corresponding proposal is planned for 2030.

In addition, work is being done on a unified time reference for the moon. It is intended to facilitate precise navigation and collaboration on lunar missions in the future.

What is certain: From May 2027, a new phase of international timekeeping will begin. While technical systems are expected to benefit from a continuous world time in the long term, the usual time for people in Austria remains unchanged.

(VIENNA.AT)

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