Skip to content
Time gap

Time differences

Time difference between London and Istanbul

Good time for both on a weekday: 9:00–14:00 in London = 12:00–17:00 in Istanbul.

 

 

 

  • Everyone at work
  • Work hours
  • Awake
  • Night
  • Weekend

Tap any column to see that moment in every city.

Different hours for each city
  • 2–3 hoursIstanbul ahead of London
  • UTC / UTC+1London, January / July
  • UTC+3Istanbul, January and July
  • 5 hours / 6 hoursshared 9-to-5 time, January / July

How the gap moves through the year

Istanbul is 2 hours ahead of London for about 7 months of the year.

Istanbul is 3 hours ahead of London for about 5 months of the year.

From the last Sunday in March (when London moves forward), Istanbul is 2 hours ahead of London.

From the last Sunday in October (when London falls back), Istanbul is 3 hours ahead of London.

London moves its clocks forward one hour on the last Sunday in March at 1:00 am local time and back on the last Sunday in October at 2:00 am, switching between Greenwich Mean Time (UTC) and British Summer Time (UTC+1).

Istanbul does not change its clocks: it stays on UTC+3 (Türkiye Standard Time) all year.

Next clock change for this pair, as of when this page was built (2026-10-20): London falls back on Sun 25 October 2026.

Everything on this page also holds if you swap London for Birmingham, Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester or Lisbon, or Istanbul for Moscow, Baghdad, Dar es Salaam, Saint Petersburg or Jeddah — those cities follow exactly the same clock all year.

Working hours that overlap

In January, a 9-to-5 day in both cities shares 5 hours: 9:00 am–2:00 pm in London, which is 12:00 pm–5:00 pm in Istanbul.

In July, a 9-to-5 day in both cities shares 6 hours: 9:00 am–3:00 pm in London, which is 11:00 am–5:00 pm in Istanbul.

Across the week

At 9:00 on a Monday morning in London, it is 12:00 pm on Monday in Istanbul.

Daylight, distance and night calls

London and Istanbul are about 2,500 km (1,550 miles) apart and 29° of longitude apart, which by the sun alone would be 2 hours.

London's winter clock sits within 2 minutes of the sun, and Istanbul's runs 1 hour 4 minutes ahead of the sun.

In mid-January the sun is up in London from about 7:59 am to 4:19 pm, and the sun is up in Istanbul from about 8:27 am to 5:59 pm; both cities are in daylight at the same time for about 7 hours.

In mid-July the sun is up in London from about 5:00 am to 9:12 pm, and the sun is up in Istanbul from about 5:44 am to 8:36 pm; both cities are in daylight at the same time for about 13 hours 30 minutes.

Hour-by-hour table and common mistakes — 2 more sections
Each hour in London and the same moment in Istanbul, on a Wednesday in January and in July. Shaded: inside 9-to-5 in both.
LondonIstanbul, JanuaryIstanbul, July
12:00 am3:00 am2:00 am
1:00 am4:00 am3:00 am
2:00 am5:00 am4:00 am
3:00 am6:00 am5:00 am
4:00 am7:00 am6:00 am
5:00 am8:00 am7:00 am
6:00 am9:00 am8:00 am
7:00 am10:00 am9:00 am
8:00 am11:00 am10:00 am
9:00 am12:00 pm11:00 am
10:00 am1:00 pm12:00 pm
11:00 am2:00 pm1:00 pm
12:00 pm3:00 pm2:00 pm
1:00 pm4:00 pm3:00 pm
2:00 pm5:00 pm4:00 pm
3:00 pm6:00 pm5:00 pm
4:00 pm7:00 pm6:00 pm
5:00 pm8:00 pm7:00 pm
6:00 pm9:00 pm8:00 pm
7:00 pm10:00 pm9:00 pm
8:00 pm11:00 pm10:00 pm
9:00 pm12:00 am (+1 day)11:00 pm
10:00 pm1:00 am (+1 day)12:00 am (+1 day)
11:00 pm2:00 am (+1 day)1:00 am (+1 day)

Common mistakes with London and Istanbul

  • Forgetting that the gap changes even though Istanbul never touches its clocks: London does, so a meeting fixed in Istanbul time moves by an hour for people in London.
  • Writing “GMT” all year for London. In summer the zone is British Summer Time; calendar apps handle it, but a typed time in an email can be read the wrong way.

Questions

Is Istanbul ahead of London?
Istanbul is 3 hours ahead of London in January and 2 hours ahead of London in July.
What is a good time for a meeting between London and Istanbul?
With 9-to-5 days in both cities, 9:00 am–3:00 pm London time is inside working hours in both, which gives 6 hours. The window can shift by an hour in the weeks when only one city has changed its clocks.
Does the time difference between London and Istanbul change?
Yes. Istanbul is 2 hours ahead of London for about 7 months of the year. Istanbul is 3 hours ahead of London for about 5 months of the year.

Related time differences

London time zone · Istanbul time zone · Plan with more cities

City names, coordinates and time zone assignments: GeoNames, licensed under CC BY 4.0 (selection and renaming of some cities by this site). Clock times are computed in your browser from the IANA time zone database. Sources and limits.