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Time gap

Time differences

Time difference between London and Sydney

No office hour works for both on a typical weekday — the bars below show the closest.

 

 

 

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

Tap any column to see that moment in every city.

Different hours for each city
  • 9–11 hoursSydney ahead of London
  • UTC / UTC+1London, January / July
  • UTC+11 / UTC+10Sydney, January / July
  • 0 hoursshared 9-to-5 time

How the gap moves through the year

Sydney is 9 hours ahead of London for about 6 months of the year.

Sydney is 11 hours ahead of London for about 5 months of the year.

Sydney is 10 hours ahead of London for about 4 weeks of the year.

The short odd stretches come from the two cities changing their clocks on different weekends.

From the last Sunday in March (when London moves forward), Sydney is 10 hours ahead of London.

From the first Sunday in April (when Sydney falls back), Sydney is 9 hours ahead of London.

From the first Sunday in October (when Sydney moves forward), Sydney is 10 hours ahead of London.

From the last Sunday in October (when London falls back), Sydney is 11 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).

Sydney moves its clocks forward one hour on the first Sunday in October at 2:00 am local time and back on the first Sunday in April at 3:00 am, switching between Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10) and Australian Eastern Daylight Time (UTC+11).

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 Sydney for Melbourne, Canberra or Hobart — those cities follow exactly the same clock all year.

Working hours that overlap

In January, two 9-to-5 days never meet — not a single quarter-hour is inside working hours in both cities.

July is no different.

Even with both days stretched to 8:00–18:00 there is no shared hour, so one side always joins outside the office day. Rotating who takes the early or late slot is the usual fix.

Across the week

At 9:00 on a Monday morning in London, it is 8:00 pm on Monday in Sydney.

4 hours of a London working week (Monday to Friday, 9 to 5) fall on the weekend in Sydney, so part of Monday or Friday is lost for meetings.

The other way round, 2 hours of a Sydney working week fall on the London weekend.

Daylight, distance and night calls

London and Sydney are about 16,990 km (10,560 miles) apart and 151° of longitude apart, which by the sun alone would be 10 hours.

London's winter clock sits within 2 minutes of the sun, and Sydney's runs 55 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 Sydney from about 5:59 am to 8:09 pm; both cities are in daylight at the same time for about 1 hour 15 minutes.

In mid-July the sun is up in London from about 5:00 am to 9:12 pm, and the sun is up in Sydney from about 6:58 am to 5:04 pm; both cities are in daylight at the same time for about 3 hours.

In January, 6 hours of a London office day fall in Sydney's night (10 pm to 6 am), and 8 hours of a Sydney office day fall in London's night.

In July, 4 hours of a London office day fall in Sydney's night (10 pm to 6 am), and 6 hours of a Sydney office day fall in London's night.

Two usual compromises in January: an early call at 7:00 am in London is 6:00 pm in Sydney; a late call at 6:00 pm in London is 5:00 am the next day there.

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

Common mistakes with London and Sydney

  • Assuming the gap is fixed. Both cities change their clocks, but not on the same weekend, so a recurring meeting can land an hour off for a few weeks.
  • Getting the date wrong. With a gap this large, an afternoon call in one city is the next morning — or the previous evening — in the other. Write the date for both cities in the invite.
  • 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 Sydney ahead of London?
Sydney is 11 hours ahead of London in January and 9 hours ahead of London in July.
What is a good time for a meeting between London and Sydney?
There is no hour that is inside a 9-to-5 day in both cities. The least painful option is usually early morning in one and early evening in the other; drag the slider above to see the trade-off on your date.
Does the time difference between London and Sydney change?
Yes. Sydney is 9 hours ahead of London for about 6 months of the year. Sydney is 11 hours ahead of London for about 5 months of the year. Sydney is 10 hours ahead of London for about 4 weeks of the year.

Related time differences

London time zone · Sydney 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.