Clocks will be set one hour forward at 3:00am this night as Moldova switches to summer time or Daylight Saving Time, IPN reports.

Consequently, March 27 will have only 23 hours. Instead, October 29 (the last Sunday of the month), when the official time in Moldova will switch from GMT+2 to GMT+3, will be by one hour longer.

For the first time, the summer time in the area between the Prut and the Nistru was introduced in 1931, when Bessarabia was part of Romania. After a pause of about 40 years, the Republic of Moldova, together with the other states of the former USSR, switched again to summer time, in the middle of the 1990s.

In time, proposals were formulated to abolish such a practice given the damage caused primarily to the health of older persons and those who suffer from chronic diseases. According to specialists, from psychological viewpoint, there is no special danger, but a moderate stress reaction appears as to any change.

Recently, the European Parliament voted to end the practice of seasonal time shifts. The MEPs requested the European Commission to assess the Daylight Saving Time policy and propose a revision plan if it’s opportune. A final decision hasn’t been yet taken.

Germany was the first country that introduced summer time, in 1916. It was followed by the UK, Belgium and Denmark.