UK on BST – not GMT – in the Summer

The United Kingdom is not on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) all year. During Daylight Saving Time (DST) the correct time zone is British Summer Time (BST).

The UK observes DST from March to October every year. However, a lot of people aren't aware of this, which leads to mistakes when they use timeanddate.com services.

Selecting UTC/GMT when using our calculators and converters for the UK will lead to incorrect results during the summer months when DST is in use.

We recommend always using the city/location, e.g. London. DST changes will then be taken into account automatically in services like:

• Time Zone Converter
• Meeting Planner

BST Only in the UK

GMT is the standard time zone in Ireland and the United Kingdom, including England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. All of these countries use DST during part of the year, but under different names.

The United Kingdom and its Crown dependencies use British Summer Time during the DST period. BST does not apply to British Overseas Territories, like the British Virgin Islands and Gibraltar.

In Ireland, the DST time zone is called Irish Standard Time (IST), sometimes also referred to as “Irish Summer Time”. Both BST and IST are one hour ahead of GMT.

The only European country which stays on GMT all year is Iceland.

GMT Might be Abandoned

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 (CET / CEST) in the United Kingdom would result in later sunrises during winter, particularly affecting people in the north of England and Scotland.

Topics: Time Zone, Daylight Saving Time, UK, Timekeeping