Time difference between London and New York

Five hours, with two exceptions

The rule of thumb for these two cities is five hours. London is on Greenwich Mean Time in winter and British Summer Time in summer; New York is on Eastern Standard Time in winter and Eastern Daylight Time in summer. Both clocks move one hour in the same direction, which keeps the difference at five hours in January and in July alike.

The exceptions come from the calendar. Britain changes its clocks on the last Sunday of March and October. New York follows the American schedule: the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday of November. In 2026 the spring mismatch lasted 21 days, from 8 March until 29 March, and the autumn one a week, from 25 October until 1 November. In 2027 the spring window is shorter, 14 days from 14 to 28 March, and the autumn window is again seven days, from 31 October to 7 November.

Two financial centres, two working days

With a five-hour gap, London’s working day is largely over by the time New York gets going. A New York 9:00 AM arrival is 2:00 PM in London, so the shared part of a 9-to-5 day is only the three hours between 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM London time, which is 9:00 AM to noon in New York. This is why Canary Wharf and Wall Street desks run morning calls in New York time that start in London’s afternoon.

During the four-hour windows the shared period grows to four hours, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM London time. This is a mild benefit for people who normally compress everything into the late afternoon. It is also the reason a recurring Monday call pinned in one zone and not the other can suddenly collide with lunch or run into the end of the day.

How to keep a recurring meeting stable

A recurring meeting set up in one city’s time zone stays at that city’s local time as the clocks change, and shifts in the other city. If you create a weekly call at 10:00 AM New York time that is 3:00 PM in London, then on 14 March 2027 the New York clock moves but London’s does not, and for two weeks the call is at 2:00 PM London time, until London catches up on 28 March.

The fix is to decide which side is the anchor. If London is the anchor, set the invitation in London time and accept that New York will see a one-hour shift for those windows. If New York is the anchor, do the opposite. Either way, write the time zone, not just the time, in the invitation.

Evenings, theatre and live events

For events the numbers are easy to check. A Broadway curtain at 7:30 PM is 12:30 AM the next morning in London during winter, which is why London fans of a Broadway opening night follow it through replays and next-morning coverage. A London evening event at 7:00 PM is 2:00 PM in New York, which is good for a US lunchtime audience. A midnight New Year countdown in London is at 7:00 PM on 31 December in New York.

Flying between Heathrow and JFK

Flights from London to New York take about eight hours in the westbound direction, so a 9:00 AM departure lands around noon the same day in New York local time. The return is overnight: leave New York in the evening and arrive in London the next morning. If you are travelling during one of the four-hour windows, use the actual boarding and arrival times from your ticket, because they are printed in local time at each airport.

The exact dates for 2026 and 2027

The table lists every clock change on either side, with the gap that applies after it. The two entries marked as ended are the ones that have already happened in 2026.

Every clock change that affects this pair

The gap, window by window

Business-hours overlap

Times in the table are in London time. The first column of results assumes a normal 9 AM to 5 PM day at both ends, using today’s offsets; the second uses July 2027; the third stretches both days to 7 AM to 10 PM, which is the realistic window when one team is willing to start early or finish late.

Plan the daily sync at 2:00 PM London, 9:00 AM New York. Both sides keep the lunch hour free and the overlap is still ample for a decision call. If New York needs a longer slot, 3:00 PM London (10:00 AM New York) still leaves two hours before London closes.