What time is it in Iceland?
GMT · Atlantic/Reykjavik
Back to IcelandNow in Reykjavík
GMT UTC+00:00
UTC+00:00
all yearGreenwich Mean Time
Iceland keeps UTC+0, Greenwich Mean Time, in every month of the year, and its clocks have not moved since 7 April 1968. By longitude it belongs further west: the island spans 13°W to 24°W, Reykjavík sits in the band that would indicate UTC-1, and Ísafjörður lies west of 22.5°W, in the band of UTC-2. A single zone, Atlantic/Reykjavik, covers the whole country, so solar noon arrives late by the clock everywhere on it.
Today
Daylight in Reykjavík today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 07:26First light 06:39
- Sunset
- 19:10Last light 19:58
- Day length
- 11 h 44 min−6 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 13:18Sun at 24°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Iceland and elsewhere
The two rows are the same day, hour for hour. Pick a city, then an hour, and the line between the rows marks the office hours both sides share.
Time difference
How far Iceland is from other places
Neighbours
- Faroe IslandsTórshavn+1 h
- GreenlandNuuk−1 h
Around the world
- London+1 h
- New York−4 h
- Los Angeles−7 h
- São Paulo−3 h
- Moscow+3 h
- Dubai+4 h
- Delhi+5:30 h
- Beijing+8 h
- Tokyo+9 h
- Sydney+10 h
Clock changes
Iceland does not change its clocks
A law the Althing passed on 16 November 1907 put the country on UTC-1, the offset of Reykjavík's own longitude, and it applied from 1908. Summer time moved the clocks forward to UTC+0 from 1917 to 1919 and again in 1921, then every year from 1939 to 1967. From 1941 to 1946 it began on the first Sunday in March and ended in late October; from 1947 the start moved to the first Sunday in April, and every change after 1941 was made at 02:00. On 5 April 1968 the Althing ended summer time and fixed the clock at UTC+0 for the whole year, on a proposal from the astronomers Trausti Einarsson and Þorsteinn Sæmundsson of the University of Iceland. The law took effect on 7 April. Iceland in effect kept its summer clock and dropped the winter one.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in Reykjavík
- Sunrise
- 07:26
- Sunset
- 19:10
- Daylight
- 11 h 44 min
- Change
- −6 min
Longest day of 2026: 21 June, 21 h 10 min.
Computed for 64.15, -21.93 at sea level with the NOAA solar equations, to the nearest minute, taking no account of hills.
Writing the time
- Clock
- 24-hour
- Short date
- 5.3.2026
- Long date
- 5. mars 2026
- Week starts
- Monday
- Zone names
- GMT
- Time zone database
- Reykjavik
History
How the clocks in Iceland got here
- 1970
- To today.UTC+00:00 all year, no summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, Atlantic/Reykjavik, as the build machine carries it. The database keeps this zone's own history from 1970 only; the years before are told above from the sources.
Common questions
Questions about the time in Iceland
What time zone is Iceland in?
Greenwich Mean Time, UTC+0, in winter and summer alike. There is no summer time, so the offset in July is the offset in January, and the same clock runs across the whole island. The time zone database lists the zone as Atlantic/Reykjavik. Timetables and opening hours are written on the 24-hour clock, while in speech Icelanders commonly use the 12-hour clock.
Does Iceland change its clocks?
No. The last change came on 7 April 1968, two days after the Althing abolished summer time. Bills and resolutions to bring it back have gone to the Althing repeatedly since 1994, most recently in 2019, and every one was rejected. The European Union's summer-time directive also applies across the European Economic Area, but Iceland holds an exception from it.
Why does Iceland use GMT when its longitude points to UTC-1?
Because of the choice made in 1968. Two astronomers argued that moving the clocks twice a year confused international flight schedules, disturbed sleep, infants' above all, and meant resetting every clock, while the summer offset itself kept Iceland closer to European business hours for trade and telephone calls. Their answer was to keep the summer offset permanently. The effect is a country on permanent summer time in all but name: solar noon in Iceland falls about an hour after noon in other places on the same offset, roughly 90 minutes after London's.
Has Iceland considered moving its clocks back an hour?
Several times. In 2014 Björg Þorleifsdóttir of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Iceland argued that the late sun gives Icelanders, teenagers most of all, social jet lag. A Ministry of Health work group agreed in January 2018 and recommended UTC-1, and in December 2019 a RÚV survey found 56% of 1,600 respondents in favour. In 2020 the government decided against the change, noting that it would cut daylight during waking hours by 13%. The astrophysicist Gunnlaugur Björnsson had argued in 2019 that no research tied clock setting to health. A 2025 poll put support at 41%, opposition at 33% and 26% undecided.
What is the time difference between Iceland and London?
None in winter and one hour in summer. Both run on UTC+0 from the last Sunday in October, but the United Kingdom moves to British Summer Time on the last Sunday in March and Iceland stays put. In 2026 London went an hour ahead on 29 March and returns to Reykjavík's time on 25 October; in 2027 the dates are 28 March and 31 October. At 12:00 in London in July it is 11:00 in Reykjavík.
Is there a midnight sun in Iceland?
Only on Grímsey, the island off the north coast. The mainland lies just south of the polar circle, so the sun sets briefly on summer nights, although twilight fills the gap and there are around two weeks of continuous daylight. Across the country's width, from Bjargtangar in the west to Hvalbakur in the east, solar time differs by about 45 minutes.