Current Time in London

About time in London

London is the home of the prime meridian, so Greenwich Mean Time is named after the city's own observatory. From late October to late March the capital sits at UTC+0, then it springs forward to British Summer Time (BST) at UTC+1 for the lighter half of the year. Clock changes happen on the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October. Because GMT is the reference for the whole world, London time is an easy anchor for comparing offsets globally.

London changes its clocks for daylight saving time, so its exact UTC offset depends on the season (UTC+0 (UTC+1 in summer)). The live clock above reads London's local time directly from the IANA time zone database in your browser, using the rules installed on your device. Keep your browser updated when regional rules change. To plan a call or convert a specific moment, use the timezone converter or meeting planner linked below.

Daylight in London through 2026

London sits at about 51.5°N, 0.1°W. The longest day of 2026 is June 18, with 16h 38m between sunrise and sunset. The shortest is December 21, with 7h 49m, a difference of 8 h 49 min. This far from the equator the swing is large: winter days are short and summer evenings stay light very late.

The earliest sunrise of the year comes around June 14 (04:42) and the latest sunset around June 20 (21:21). These are not exactly on the solstice because the sun’s position runs slightly ahead of or behind clock time during the year.

Solar noon, when the sun is highest, falls at about 12:07 local time in late March, 13:02 in late June and 11:58 in late December. In standard time the sun is highest at about 12:01 on average, close to 12:00, so the clock and the sun are well aligned in London. During daylight saving time everything moves an hour later on the clock.

Local clock times, including daylight saving where it applies. Calculated with the standard sunrise equation for the city centre; terrain and tall buildings can delay the visible sunrise.

Clock changes in London (2026–2027)

London changes its clocks twice in 2026. On a change night, the local time skips or repeats a block of time, and the gap to other cities shifts unless they change on the same date.

• Sunday, March 29, 2026: at 01:00 clocks go forward one hour to 02:00 (UTC+0 → UTC+1).
• Sunday, October 25, 2026: at 02:00 clocks go back one hour to 01:00 (UTC+1 → UTC+0).
• Sunday, March 28, 2027: at 01:00 clocks go forward one hour to 02:00 (UTC+0 → UTC+1).
• Sunday, October 31, 2027: at 02:00 clocks go back one hour to 01:00 (UTC+1 → UTC+0).

Recurring meetings set in London time stay at the same local hour; participants elsewhere see the meeting move by an hour for the weeks when only one side has changed.

Dates come from the IANA time zone database as bundled with this site’s build. Governments occasionally change rules at short notice; see our methodology.