United Kingdom not on GMT in the summer

The "home" of GMT is the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London

©iStockphoto.com/Richard30d

The United Kingdom is not on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) during Daylight Saving Time in the summer months. Instead it is on British Summer Time (BST), which is one hour ahead of GMT.

The United Kingdom moves its clocks forward by one hour on the last Sunday of March and back again on the last Sunday of October.

The only European country which stays on GMT all year round is Iceland. During the winter months in the northern hemisphere, GMT is also used in Ireland and in most of the United Kingdom, including England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

BST does not apply to overseas territories of the United Kingdom, such as the British Virgin Islands and Gibraltar.

Proposals to abandon GMT

Proposals have been made several times to change the UK’s standard time zone to Central European Time (CET). The argument is that such a change would improve business and transport links with other countries and might lower the number of road traffic accidents.

Adopting Central European Time in the United Kingdom would result in later sunrises during winter, particularly affecting people in the north of England and Scotland.

Use location in applications

People who use the Meeting Planner or The World Clock – Time Zone Converter to check time differences between cities in the UK and other countries are advised to use London (or any other UK city) instead of GMT as a point of reference during the daylight saving schedule. This way you'll always get the correct current time differences when planning meetings or calling friends and families in different time zones.

The cities listed in the The World Clock always show the current time zones for the UK cities which are on BST during the daylight saving period. This service displays a main list of cities, like. It also features other cities in the United Kingdom when it is shown as an expanded World Clock. These cities include: Birmingham, Liverpool, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Cardiff.