Time Zone Guide
Time Difference in London
London's current local time, and how it compares with cities around the world
This page shows London's live local time and helps you compare it with another city — useful for scheduling international calls and business meetings.
Compare London with another city
Search a city to see the current time difference with London.
Need to compare more than two cities at once? Try Compare Time Zones →
Popular London Time Differences
Updated live, and adjusted automatically for daylight saving time.
London Business Hours Around the World
London's 9:00 AM–5:00 PM working day, converted to local time elsewhere.
London Time Zone & Daylight Saving Time
London uses the Europe/London time zone. Its UTC offset moves between UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time, in winter) and UTC+1 (British Summer Time, in summer), so its gap with other cities changes for part of the year.
The difference with US cities like New York or Chicago can shift by an hour for a few weeks each spring and autumn, since the UK and the US change their clocks on different dates. Comparisons with countries that don't observe daylight saving time at all, such as Japan, shift too — driven entirely by London's own clock change rather than theirs. As a major global financial centre, London regularly coordinates across US, Middle Eastern and Asian business hours in the same day, so the date matters as much as the time.
Convert a specific date and time → Compare multiple cities at once → Find the best meeting time →
All city time differences → Time difference in New York → Time difference in Tokyo →
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is London in?
London uses the Europe/London time zone. It observes daylight saving time, known locally as British Summer Time, so its UTC offset changes twice a year.
Is London on GMT or BST?
It depends on the date. London uses British Summer Time (BST, UTC+1) during daylight saving time and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT, UTC+0) the rest of the year. The current abbreviation is shown live at the top of this page.
What is the time difference between London and New York?
London is typically 5 hours ahead of New York, but this can temporarily shift to 4 hours for a few weeks each spring and autumn, since the UK and the US change their clocks for daylight saving time on different dates.
What is the time difference between London and Chicago?
London is typically 6 hours ahead of Chicago, shifting to 5 hours for a few weeks each spring and autumn around the daylight saving transitions.
Does London observe daylight saving time?
Yes. London moves its clocks forward in spring to British Summer Time and back in autumn to Greenwich Mean Time.
How can I find the best meeting time between London and another city?
Use the free International Meeting Planner, which compares working hours across multiple cities and recommends the most convenient meeting times automatically.