The clocks went back in Europe on Sunday, October 25, but they won't go back in the US until Sunday, November 1. That leaves one odd week where the time difference across the Atlantic is an hour smaller than usual. Right now, London is only four hours ahead of New York instead of five, and Paris is five hours ahead instead of six. If you're flying between the US and Europe this week, or scheduling anything with someone on the other side, it's an easy week to get the time wrong.
Why the Gap Shrinks for a Week
The US and Europe both use daylight saving time, but they don't switch on the same day. Europe moves its clocks back on the last Sunday of October, while the US waits until the first Sunday of November. For the week in between, Europe is already back on standard time and the US isn't, so the usual gap is one hour shorter. The same thing happens in reverse in March, when the US springs forward a couple of weeks before Europe does.
Here's how it works out for the most common routes this week, compared with after November 1:
- New York to London: 4 hours this week, then 5
- New York to Paris, Madrid, Rome, Berlin or Amsterdam: 5 hours, then 6
- Chicago to London: 5 hours, then 6
- Los Angeles to London: 7 hours, then 8
Clock Change Week · Oct. 25 to Nov. 1
The Atlantic Is an Hour Closer This Week
Contrail
What It Means for Your Flight
Your flight times aren't wrong. Departure and arrival times on tickets and boarding passes are always listed in the local time of each airport, and airlines build their timetables around the clock changes in advance. What changes is the math in your head. An overnight flight from New York to London that leaves at 7 p.m. still leaves at 7 p.m. New York time, but if you're working out what time it'll be in London when you land, or how long you'll have before a connection, add four hours this week, not five.
Where people actually get caught out is everything around the flight. Your phone switches automatically when you land, but a calendar invite for a call with someone in Europe might not land where you expect it to, and a hotel shuttle or train you booked in local time won't wait for you to do the math. If you've got a tight connection or something booked for the hour after you land, it's worth checking it against the local time at your destination rather than how many hours ahead you think it is.
Next Sunday, the US catches up, and everything snaps back to normal. If you're flying on November 1 itself, remember you'll get an extra hour that morning in the US, and double-check the time of any very early departure.
