Time zone in Edinburgh
Edinburgh is on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT, UTC+0) in winter and switches to British Summer Time (BST, UTC+1) in summer. Its identifier in the international time zone database is Europe/London: it is what your phone and computer use to show the right time there.
Clock changes in Edinburgh:
- 2026: forward 1 h on Sunday, March 29, 2026 (1:00 AM becomes 2:00 AM), then back 1 h on Sunday, October 25, 2026 (2:00 AM becomes 1:00 AM).
- 2027: forward 1 h on Sunday, March 28, 2027 (1:00 AM becomes 2:00 AM), then back 1 h on Sunday, October 31, 2027 (2:00 AM becomes 1:00 AM).
London is the home of Greenwich Mean Time. The UK is on GMT (UTC+0) in winter and on British Summer Time (UTC+1) from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October.
Edinburgh follows the European rule: clocks go forward on the last Sunday of March and back on the last Sunday of October, at 01:00 UTC, the same instant everywhere in Europe.
Edinburgh shares its time with London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester.
Edinburgh is 534 km from London, the capital, and has the same time.
By the sun, noon in Edinburgh falls at about 12:13 PM in winter and 1:13 PM in summer (on average over the year). The city lies at 3.19° west, and every degree of longitude shifts the sun by 4 minutes. Clock time is close to sun time here. See the sunrise and sunset times in Edinburgh.
Time difference with major cities
When it is 12:00 PM (noon) in Edinburgh, it is:
| City | January | July |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 7:00 AM | 7:00 AM |
| Los Angeles | 4:00 AM | 4:00 AM |
| Paris | 1:00 PM | 1:00 PM |
| Tokyo | 9:00 PM | 8:00 PM |
| Sydney | 11:00 PM | 9:00 PM |
| Chicago | 6:00 AM | 6:00 AM |
The gap with Tokyo changes by one hour during the year, because Edinburgh changes its clocks and this city does not. With Sydney, the gap is not the same in January and July: the clocks change at other times of the year there. With New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the gap is the same in January and July but one hour different for 21 days a year, because the clocks do not change on the same dates.
Best time to call Edinburgh from New York
To reach someone at work in Edinburgh from New York, the best window is from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM in New York, which is 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM in Edinburgh.
For any other city, use the time zone converter or add it to the world clock.