What Time Is It for Them? A Simple Guide to Time Differences When You Video Call Family Abroad
There's nothing quite like a video call with family far away, until you ring at 3am and wake everyone up. (We've all done it!) Time differences are confusing, and they change twice a year on different dates in different countries. That's what catches people out. This guide makes it simple.
Free Calls for Seniors
10/26/20263 min read
What you'll learn
Why the time difference keeps changing
This week's quirk, and why it matters
A cheat sheet of times for popular countries
Three easy ways to check their time
How to agree a call time that works for both of you
Why does the time difference keep changing?
The world is split into time zones. When it's morning here, it's already evening in Australia. On top of that, many countries move their clocks forward in spring and back in autumn, but each country does it on different dates. Countries in the southern hemisphere, like Australia and New Zealand, change the opposite way round, because their summer is our winter.
So the gap between you and your family isn't fixed. It shifts a little, twice a year.
This week's quirk
Our clocks went back at 2am on Sunday 25 October 2026. But the United States and Canada don't change until Sunday 1 November.
That means for this one week, New York and Toronto are 4 hours behind us instead of the usual 5. From 1 November, the gap goes back to 5 hours. The same thing happens for a few weeks each March, when America moves its clocks before we do.
Cheat sheet: what time is it for them?
When it's 12 noon in the UK:
Australia and New Zealand are on summer time now and will change again in April, so their gap will shrink by an hour then. Always double-check an unusual date or place.
Three easy ways to check their time
1. Add a world clock to your phone
This is the best one, because it shows their time every time you look.
iPhone: open the Clock app, tap World Clock at the bottom, tap the + at the top right, type your family's city, and tap it.
Android: open the Clock app, find World Clock (it may be a little globe icon), tap +, and search for the city.
Menu names vary slightly between phone makes. Check on your own phone before publishing.
2. Ask your voice assistant
Say 'Hey Siri, what time is it in Sydney?', or ask Alexa or Google the same question. If you have an Amazon Echo Show, it works brilliantly for this.
3. Ask Google
Type 'time in Sydney' into Google and the answer appears right at the top.
Choosing a time that suits you both
A good rule of thumb: aim for when you're both awake and relaxed, roughly between 8am and 9pm at each end. Some examples:
UK to Sydney: ring in your morning, say 8am to 10am. That's 7pm to 9pm for them.
UK to New York (from 1 November): ring in your afternoon, say 2pm to 5pm. That's 9am to 12 noon for them.
UK to California (from 1 November): ring late afternoon or early evening, say 4pm to 7pm. That's 8am to 11am for them.
One more thing to watch: the date. If it's Sunday at 2pm with us, it's already Monday at 1am in Sydney.
Agree a regular slot
The easiest way to avoid mix-ups is to agree a regular time, such as 'Sunday at 10am our time'. Say it in both time zones when you arrange it: 'Sunday 10am my time, that's 9pm yours.' Put it in your phone's calendar with a reminder.
Then add a note to your diary for the weekends when clocks change, ours at the end of March and October, and theirs on their own dates. A quick message saying 'Has the time changed for you yet?' saves a lot of confusion.
You'll soon get the hang of it
Once you've added your family's city to your phone's clock, you'll check their time without thinking, and those 3am calls will be a thing of the past.
New to video calling? Our beginner's guide to WhatsApp video calls will have you chatting in minutes. https://freecallsforseniors.co.uk/whatsapp-guide
Sources and checks
Facts I checked against sources this session, so you can see where each came from:
Landline switch-off date, power-cut rules and telecare: GOV.UK 'UK transition from analogue to digital landlines'; Ofcom; Suffolk and Staffordshire council guidance.
Winter Fuel Payment 2026/27 (born on or before 27 June 1960, £100 to £300, paid Nov to Dec, helpline 0800 731 0160, 27 January 2027): Age UK and GOV.UK pages. Confirm on GOV.UK before posting.
Flu jab booking (England, from 1 October, 65 or over by 31 March 2027, 119, NHS App): Age UK, September 2026.
US and Canada clocks go back on 1 November 2026: several sources including NIST-based reports.
Report Fraud replaced Action Fraud: City of London Police, December 2025 and January 2026.
Meta AI circle: multiple news reports. The 'purple' change comes from a Swiss outlet, April 2026.
Not independently checked: the non-US rows of the time-difference table, and WhatsApp menu paths.
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