If you’ve ever crossed the Atlantic and have been curious about the time difference between London and New York, you may have asked yourself: “Is London 6 hours ahead of New York?” The answer is not as straightforward as you may think.
Time Zones
The world is divided into 24 time zones, each roughly 15 degrees of longitude wide, with Greenwich, England serving as the prime meridian or reference point for time zones. Theoretically, each time zone should differ by one hour from its adjacent zones.
New York Time Zone
New York is located in the Eastern Time Zone (ET), which is five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT-5). During Daylight Saving Time (DST), which starts on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November, New York observes Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) which is four hours behind GMT-4.
London Time Zone
London is located in the Western European Time Zone (WET), which is zero hours ahead of GMT. During DST, London observes British Summer Time (BST), which is one hour ahead of GMT+1.
Difference Between New York and London Times
From November to March when both cities are on standard time, there is a five-hour time difference between New York and London. When DST starts in March, this difference becomes four hours until November when it reverts back to five hours.
So no, London is not six hours ahead of New York all year round. It’s either four or five hours ahead depending on whether daylight saving time is being observed in both cities or not.
The International Date Line
It’s also worth noting that if you were to continue traveling eastward from London through Asia and then cross the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean, you would end up losing a day. This is because the International Date Line marks the place where the date changes by one day. So if it’s Monday in London, it may already be Tuesday in New Zealand, which is 11 hours ahead of GMT+13.
Conclusion
To sum up, London is not six hours ahead of New York all year round. During standard time, there’s a five-hour difference between the two cities while during daylight saving time the difference is four hours. It’s always important to keep track of time differences when traveling to avoid missed appointments or flights.