Current Time in Edinburgh, Scotland
The live time in Edinburgh (City of Edinburgh), with the GMT or BST status, the next clock change and sunrise and sunset through the year.
About time in Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and home to the Scottish Parliament. It uses UK time like everywhere else in the country, but at almost 56 degrees north its daylight swings are dramatic: around 17 hours of light at midsummer against roughly 7 at the winter solstice. Hogmanay and the August festivals make it a city where the clock matters, with the midnight bells on 31 December watched worldwide.
- Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebration counts down to midnight GMT.
- The one o'clock gun at the castle fires daily except Sundays.
- Midsummer daylight lasts about 17 hours.
About 510,000 people live in Edinburgh. At 55.95 degrees north and 3.19 degrees west of Greenwich, true solar noon here falls about 13 minutes after clock noon. The clock itself always matches the rest of the UK.
Sunrise and sunset in Edinburgh through the year
Times for the 15th of each month in UK local time (GMT or BST). Calculated from the city's latitude and longitude.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 08:34 | 16:10 | 7h 37m |
| February | 07:38 | 17:16 | 9h 37m |
| March | 06:29 | 18:15 | 11h 46m |
| April | 06:08 | 20:18 | 14h 10m |
| May | 05:00 | 21:18 | 16h 18m |
| June | 04:26 | 22:00 | 17h 34m |
| July | 04:47 | 21:49 | 17h 02m |
| August | 05:43 | 20:50 | 15h 07m |
| September | 06:43 | 19:31 | 12h 48m |
| October | 07:43 | 18:13 | 10h 30m |
| November | 07:48 | 16:05 | 8h 17m |
| December | 08:37 | 15:38 | 7h 01m |
Edinburgh time compared with the world
| City | Time now | Gap to the UK |
|---|---|---|
| New York | --:-- | |
| Los Angeles | --:-- | |
| Chicago | --:-- | |
| Toronto | --:-- | |
| Dubai | --:-- | |
| India (Mumbai) | --:-- | |
| Karachi | --:-- | |
| Singapore | --:-- | |
| Sydney | --:-- | |
| Lagos | --:-- | |
| Johannesburg | --:-- | |
| Paris | --:-- |
Time in nearby cities
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is Edinburgh in?
Edinburgh is in the UK time zone. It uses Greenwich Mean Time (GMT, UTC+0) in winter and British Summer Time (BST, UTC+1) in summer, the same as the rest of the UK.
When do the clocks change in Edinburgh?
The clocks go forward at 01:00 on the last Sunday of March and back at 02:00 on the last Sunday of October. In 2026 that is Sunday, 29 March 2026 and Sunday, 25 October 2026.
How much daylight does Edinburgh get in summer and winter?
Around 17h 37m at the June solstice and 6h 58m at the December solstice, based on its latitude of 56.0 degrees north.
Is Edinburgh on the same time as London?
Yes. All UK clocks show the same time. Because Edinburgh is 3.2 degrees west of Greenwich, solar noon here is about 13 minutes after clock noon (GMT), but the clocks do not differ.