GMT time now
00:00:00GMT
Thursday 1 October 2026
The UK is on BST right now, and UK time is 01:00:00. The clocks next go back on Sunday 25 October 2026.
Your device: 01:00 (Europe/London).
GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) is the time on the prime meridian at Greenwich, London, and reads the same as UTC (UTC+0). The UK uses GMT in winter, from the last Sunday in October to the last Sunday in March. For the rest of the year it uses British Summer Time, which is GMT+1.
When the UK is on GMT
From 2am BST on Sunday 25 October 2026 the UK is on GMT, and the clock above matches UK time. From 1am GMT on the last Sunday in March, UK time runs one hour ahead of GMT until October.
| From | To | UK time |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday 29 March 2026 | Sunday 25 October 2026 | BST (GMT+1) |
| Sunday 25 October 2026 | Sunday 28 March 2027 | GMT |
| Sunday 28 March 2027 | Sunday 31 October 2027 | BST (GMT+1) |
| Sunday 31 October 2027 | Sunday 26 March 2028 | GMT |
| Sunday 26 March 2028 | Sunday 29 October 2028 | BST (GMT+1) |
The highlighted row is the next change. Exact times and a countdown are on the clocks change page.
What Greenwich Mean Time is
GMT is mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich: noon is, on average over the year, when the Sun crosses the Greenwich meridian. Great Britain made it the legal time in 1880, and the Interpretation Act 1978 still says that a time in an Act of Parliament means GMT unless stated otherwise.
In October 1884, the International Meridian Conference in Washington, DC, attended by 25 nations, voted 22 to 1, with France and Brazil abstaining, to make the Greenwich meridian the prime meridian of the world. Since 1833 the red time ball on the roof of the Royal Observatory has dropped at exactly 1pm every day, so that ships on the Thames could set their chronometers.
GMT and UTC
GMT and UTC show the same time, and you can treat them as the same for travel, meetings and timetables. The difference is in how they are defined. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is kept by atomic clocks around the world and is the reference for every time zone. GMT is now the name of the UK's winter time zone. Scientists and software use UTC; UK law and the BBC still say GMT.
Who else uses GMT
Iceland, Ghana, Senegal and several other West African countries are on GMT all year, with no clock changes. Ireland, Portugal, the Canary Islands and the Faroe Islands use GMT in winter and move one hour ahead in summer, on the same days as the UK. For a full list of zone abbreviations, see time zones explained, or compare any two places with the time zone converter.
Frequently asked questions
Is UK time always GMT?
No. The UK uses GMT in winter and British Summer Time (GMT+1) from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. In summer, UK time is one hour ahead of GMT.
Is GMT the same as UTC?
For everyday purposes, yes: both read the same time, UTC+0. UTC is the scientific standard kept by atomic clocks; GMT is the name of the UK's winter time zone and the legal time in UK law.
Does GMT change in summer?
No. GMT never changes. What changes is the UK's clock time, which moves to BST, one hour ahead of GMT, for the summer.
What does GMT+1 mean?
One hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. British Summer Time, Central European Time in winter and West Africa Time are all GMT+1.
When does the UK go back to GMT?
At 2am BST on Sunday 25 October 2026, when the clocks go back one hour to 1am GMT. The UK stays on GMT until 1am on Sunday 28 March 2027.
More: British Summer Time explained and the world clock.