Time in Scotland, United Kingdom 🇬🇧
The current local time in Scotland, United Kingdom is anchored on Glasgow. The region uses the Europe/London time zone (UTC +01:00).
Scotland local time
Sunday, 11 October 2026 BST
Region information
Scotland
Region of United Kingdom
Population: 5,463,300
How time works in Scotland
Scotland follows UK time — GMT in winter, BST (UTC +01:00) in summer. Being far north and west, Scottish winter mornings are especially dark: sunrise in Edinburgh is after 08:40 in late December.
Scotland vs. major cities
How far Scotland is from the world's main business centres right now, what time it is there when the working day starts in Scotland, and which hours of a 09:00–17:00 day the two places share. Daylight saving changes are applied automatically.
| City | Difference | At 09:00 in Scotland | Shared office hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York · United States | −5 h | 04:00 | 14:00–17:00 |
| Los Angeles · United States | −8 h | 01:00 | None |
| São Paulo · Brazil | −4 h | 05:00 | 13:00–17:00 |
| Paris · France | +1 h | 10:00 | 09:00–16:00 |
| Johannesburg · South Africa | +1 h | 10:00 | 09:00–16:00 |
| Dubai · United Arab Emirates | +3 h | 12:00 | 09:00–14:00 |
| Delhi · India | +4:30 h | 13:30 | 09:00–12:30 |
| Singapore · Singapore | +7 h | 16:00 | 09:00–10:00 |
| Beijing · China | +7 h | 16:00 | 09:00–10:00 |
| Tokyo · Japan | +8 h | 17:00 | None |
Shared office hours are shown in Scotland time. Compare any set of cities hour by hour in the time zone converter, or pick a slot that suits everyone with the event planner.
Clock changes in Scotland
Since 1970, Scotland has gone through 3 distinct time-keeping periods, observing daylight saving time in 55 of 57 years. The current pattern, in place since 1972, is UTC +00:00 with UTC +01:00 in daylight saving time. Clocks currently go forward on the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October, a rule in place since 1996.
| Date | Change | Local clock | New offset |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, 29 March 2026 | Forward 1 hour | 01:00 → 02:00 | UTC +01:00 |
| Sunday, 25 October 2026 | Back 1 hour | 02:00 → 01:00 | UTC +00:00 |
| Sunday, 28 March 2027 | Forward 1 hour | 01:00 → 02:00 | UTC +01:00 |
| Sunday, 31 October 2027 | Back 1 hour | 02:00 → 01:00 | UTC +00:00 |
When clocks go forward, sunrise and sunset both happen an hour later by the clock — darker mornings, lighter evenings — and the night of the change is an hour shorter. When they go back, the reverse applies.
Time zone history since 1970 (3 periods)
| Years | Offset | Daylight saving |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | UTC +01:00 all year | No daylight saving time |
| 1971 | UTC +00:00 all year | No daylight saving time |
| 1972–2026 | UTC +00:00, DST UTC +01:00 | Forward on the last Sunday in March, back on the last Sunday in October (since 1996) |
Source: IANA tz database, as shipped with the Unicode ICU library.
Other cities in the same time zone
Astronomy & weather
Explore Scotland
More on Scotland: the country overview, the exact IANA zone, and tools for Glasgow.