diff --git a/classes/output/manage/base_table.php b/classes/output/manage/base_table.php
index b2dee58..a5387d5 100644
--- a/classes/output/manage/base_table.php
+++ b/classes/output/manage/base_table.php
@@ -48,6 +48,14 @@ class base_table extends flexible_table {
      */
     private static $autoid = 0;
 
+    protected static function create_starttime_string($starttime) {
+        $absolute = userdate($starttime, get_string('datetimeformat', 'auth_outage'));
+        $relative = $starttime - time();
+        $format = ($relative < 0) ? 'tablestarttimepastformat' : 'tablestarttimefutureformat';
+        $relative = format_time($relative);
+        return get_string($format, 'auth_outage', compact('absolute', 'relative'));
+    }
+
     /**
      * Constructor
      * @param string|null $id to be used by the table, autogenerated if null.
diff --git a/classes/output/manage/history_table.php b/classes/output/manage/history_table.php
index 412139a..720a7f0 100644
--- a/classes/output/manage/history_table.php
+++ b/classes/output/manage/history_table.php
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class history_table extends base_table {
 
         $this->define_headers([
                 get_string('tableheaderwarnbefore', 'auth_outage'),
-                get_string('tableheaderstarttime', 'auth_outage'),
+                get_string('tableheaderstartedtime', 'auth_outage'),
                 get_string('tableheaderdurationplanned', 'auth_outage'),
                 get_string('tableheaderdurationactual', 'auth_outage'),
                 get_string('tableheadertitle', 'auth_outage'),
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class history_table extends base_table {
             $finished = is_null($finished) ? '-' : format_time($finished);
             $this->add_data([
                 format_time($outage->get_warning_duration()),
-                userdate($outage->starttime, get_string('datetimeformat', 'auth_outage')),
+                self::create_starttime_string($outage->starttime),
                 format_time($outage->get_duration_planned()),
                 $finished,
                 $outage->get_title(),
diff --git a/classes/output/manage/planned_table.php b/classes/output/manage/planned_table.php
index 8275b07..a183147 100644
--- a/classes/output/manage/planned_table.php
+++ b/classes/output/manage/planned_table.php
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ class planned_table extends base_table {
 
             $this->add_data([
                 format_time($outage->get_warning_duration()),
-                userdate($outage->starttime, get_string('datetimeformat', 'auth_outage')),
+                self::create_starttime_string($outage->starttime),
                 format_time($outage->get_duration_planned()),
                 $title,
                 $this->create_data_buttons($outage, true),
diff --git a/lang/en/auth_outage.php b/lang/en/auth_outage.php
index bf6f256..b6ca9da 100644
--- a/lang/en/auth_outage.php
+++ b/lang/en/auth_outage.php
@@ -128,8 +128,11 @@ $string['tableheaderduration'] = 'Duration';
 $string['tableheaderdurationplanned'] = 'Planned duration';
 $string['tableheaderdurationactual'] = 'Actual duration';
 $string['tableheaderstarttime'] = 'Starts on';
+$string['tableheaderstartedtime'] = 'Started on';
 $string['tableheaderwarnbefore'] = 'Warns before';
 $string['tableheadertitle'] = 'Title';
+$string['tablestarttimefutureformat'] = '{$a->absolute}<br />In {$a->relative}';
+$string['tablestarttimepastformat'] = '{$a->absolute}<br />{$a->relative} ago';
 $string['taskupdatestaticpage'] = 'Update static outage page';
 $string['textplaceholdershint'] = 'You can use {{start}}, {{stop}} and {{duration}} as placeholders on the title and description.';
 $string['titleerrorinvalid'] = 'Title cannot be left blank.';