Time difference between London and Dubai

The gap is not the same all year

Every converter gives one number for this pair. That number is right for most of the year and wrong for part of it, because London goes forward on the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October and Dubai does not change its clocks.

Dubai stays put all year while London moves, so a meeting fixed in Dubai's calendar shifts by an hour twice a year at London's end.

About London and Dubai

London is the reference the rest of the system is measured from: Greenwich sits inside the city, and UTC±0 is its winter time. It does not stay there — Britain moves to UTC+1 for seven months of the year, which is why "London is GMT" is wrong more often than it is right.

The UAE keeps UTC+4 all year with no daylight saving, and the working week runs Monday to Friday only since 2022 — before that it was Sunday to Thursday, which made the overlap with Europe a different problem entirely.

What 3 hours actually costs you

This is an easy pair. 5 hours of the working day are shared, which is enough for a standing meeting at a time neither side has to think about. 9:00 AM–2:00 PM in London lands inside office hours at both ends.

When they can both be at their desks

Nine-to-five in both cities overlaps for 5 hours — 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM in London, the same moment as 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM in Dubai.

London

Dubai

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How far apart London and Dubai are

The shortest path over the Earth's surface between the two is 5,473 km (3,401 miles). Flown along that line, an airliner at cruising speed takes roughly 7 hours 5 minutes in the air — actual routings add to it, and whether a nonstop service exists depends on the airlines rather than the distance.

A gap of 3 hours is small enough that most people adjust within a day or two, and short enough that it rarely disrupts a trip.

London to Dubai, hour by hour

On the usual gap of 3 hours.

Frequently asked questions