London Sunrise and Sunset Times Throughout 2026
Daylight in London swings hard. The figures below are calculated for the city centre (51.508, -0.126) at sea level. A valley or a tall building line will shift things by a few minutes.
| Date | Event | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 March | March equinox | 06:05 | 18:11 | 12 h 6 min |
| 21 June | June solstice | 04:42 | 21:21 | 16 h 39 min |
| 22 September | September equinox | 06:44 | 19:01 | 12 h 17 min |
| 21 December | December solstice | 08:03 | 15:53 | 7 h 50 min |
All times are local: GMT in March and December, BST in June and September.
The Longest Day in London: June Solstice and 16+ Hours of Daylight
On 21 June 2026, London gets 16 hours 39 minutes of daylight. Sunrise at 04:42. Sunset at 21:21. That is the longest day of the year.
Leave work at a normal time and you still have three hours of daylight. Parks fill, pub gardens thrive, outdoor events run late. The golden hour for photography can last past 20:00, a long window of warm, low-angle light.
The June solstice is the moment the sun reaches its northernmost point. After 21 June, days start shrinking, imperceptibly at first, then faster.
The Shortest Day in London: December Solstice and the 4 PM Sunset
On 21 December 2026, London gets 7 hours 50 minutes of daylight. Sunrise at 08:03. Sunset at 15:53.
A big slice of the working day happens in darkness. Commuting often happens in the dark during winter months: you travel to work in the dark, you travel home in the dark. The psychological shift towards indoor cosiness is real and well documented.
If you work a standard 09:00-17:00 job, you may not see the sun at all on overcast days.
How GMT and BST Shape London's Daylight Perception
London uses two time offsets:
- Greenwich Mean Time (GMT, UTC+0) from late October to late March.
- British Summer Time (BST, UTC+1) from late March to late October.
The switch happens on specific Sundays. In 2026, clocks go forward on 29 March (01:00 GMT → 02:00 BST) and back on 25 October (02:00 BST → 01:00 GMT). For full dates and rules, see London Daylight Saving Time 2026: BST Dates & Rules.
BST shifts an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. That’s why summer sunsets are so late and winter sunsets so early.
What Time Does It Get Dark in London in Summer?
On the June solstice, the sun sets at 21:21. Civil twilight, the period when it’s still light enough to read outside, lasts roughly 30-50 minutes after sunset. The sky doesn’t go fully dark until about 22:00 in late June.
Practical takeaway: if you’re planning an outdoor dinner or a photography session in July, the best light is between 19:30 and 21:00. After 22:00, it’s night.
What Time Does It Get Dark in London in Winter?
In December, civil twilight ends by about 16:30. By 17:00, it’s fully dark.
The afternoon commute (17:00-18:00) happens entirely in darkness. If you have a 09:00-17:00 job, your only daylight exposure is the lunch hour, and even then the sun is low and weak.
The December solstice is the extreme, but the week before and after are nearly identical.
The 'Golden Hour' in London: Photography and the Long Summer Evenings
Photographers use the term “golden hour” for the period shortly after sunrise and before sunset when the sun is low and light is warm and diffused.
In June, the golden hour starts roughly an hour before sunset and runs until the sun drops below the horizon. That gives almost two hours of prime shooting light on the longest days. In December, the window shrinks: roughly 08:15-08:45 in the morning and 15:00-15:53 in the afternoon, barely 30 minutes each.
Best locations for golden-hour photography in London: the South Bank (sunset behind the London Eye), Primrose Hill (panoramic skyline), or any of the Royal Parks (Richmond Park’s deer in warm light).