Why Your 9 a.m. New York Call Lands an Hour Earlier in London From Oct. 25 to Nov. 1
In 2012, Rory McIlroy almost missed the Ryder Cup match because of a time zone mix-up. This mistake almost cost him the match and required a police escort to get there on time.
Key Takeaways
- For one week this fall (Oct 25–Nov 1), New York is only 4 hours behind London because Europe changes its clocks a week before the US.
- Arizona and Hawaii do not observe daylight saving time, so their time gap with Europe shifts only once in the fall and stays that way all winter.
- For a few weeks each year, a London and a Los Angeles office may actually share overlapping work time.
This year, Europe turns its clock back on October 25th, while the US will do so on November 1st. So for one week, every meeting, kickoff, flight, and TV show across the Atlantic that is set in local time will shift by an hour. This reverses every spring.
Typically, a business call scheduled for 9:00 am in New York is received at 2:00 pm in London. However, for that one week, Sunday, October 25th to Sunday, November 1st, 2026, that same call will be received at 1:00 pm in London.
This change began in 2007 when the US extended its daylight saving period. The result created a time gap of two or three weeks in spring and one week in fall.
The Rule of Time
The EU and UK end daylight saving time on the last Sunday of October. This year, that is October 25th, 2026, at 1 am UTC.
The US, on the other hand, ends daylight saving time on the first Sunday of November, November 1, 2026.
In spring, the US starts daylight saving time on the second Sunday of March. Next spring, that will be March 14, 2027.
Europe starts on the last Sunday. That will be March 28th 2027.
These time changes create two periods when the time gap reduces: October 25 to November 1, 2026, 1 week, and March 14th to 28th, 2027, two weeks.
Here is what happens to five pairs of cities during the fall gap:
| City pair | Usual time difference | During the gap (October 25 -November 1, 2026) |
| New York and London | 5 hours | 4 hours |
| New York and Paris | 6 hours | 5 hours |
| Chicago and London | 6 hours | 5 hours |
| Los Angeles and London | 8 hours | 7 hours |
| Los Angeles and Berlin | 9 hours | 8 hours |
The Hit: Your Kickoffs, Your Flights, Your Meetings
If you have scheduled a meeting across time zones, planned a flight, or wish to catch the Premier League kickoff at 3 pm UK time on Saturday 31st, you need to consider that 1-hour time difference. The Premier League will start at 11:00 am Eastern Daylight Time instead of 10 am. You will need to make allowances for this change.
Perhaps the most important part of the change, however, is that for three weeks per year, a Los Angeles office and a London office share 1 working hour. This is assuming both offices share the 9-to-5 work period each day. This is great for meetings and collaboration.
| City Pair | Normal Overlap | During the Gap |
| New York - London | 3 hours | 4 hours |
| Chicago - London | 2 hours | 3 hours |
| Los Angeles - London | 0 hours | 1 hour |
A Time Anomaly: Parts of the United States Does Not Use Daylight Saving Time
There are exceptions within the United States. Except for the Navajo Nation, Arizona and Hawaii do not observe daylight saving time. Their gap with Europe is only affected by the changes on the European side. This means that on October 25th, their 8-hour gap with London will become 7 hours and will remain that way all through winter.
Honolulu, on the other hand, is 11 hours behind London. On October 25th, the gap will shrink to 10 hours and remain that way all winter.
You probably won’t need a police escort to make your next transatlantic call, but this window is a trap for the unaware. You can fix this by running your city pair through Omni’s time zone converter when booking your meetings.
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