The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service has confirmed that no leap second will be added at the end of June 2026. This announcement, issued through Bulletin C number 71, maintains the current UTC-TAI difference of -37 seconds that has been in effect since January 1, 2017. The decision follows standard procedures for monitoring Earth's rotation.

Leap seconds are occasionally inserted to keep atomic time synchronized with Earth's slightly irregular rotation. The IERS evaluates whether adjustments are needed every six months, considering the difference between UT1 (Earth rotation time) and TAI (International Atomic Time). Since 2016, when the last leap second was added, the rotation has remained sufficiently stable to avoid further corrections.

This stability marks a significant departure from the period between 1972 and 2016, when 27 leap seconds were introduced. The absence of leap seconds since 2016 reflects improved understanding of Earth's rotational dynamics and the decreasing need for manual time adjustments in our increasingly precise timekeeping systems.