Eastern daylight time, right now
UTC−4, in force from March to November, and the correct label for New York for two thirds of the year — which is exactly as long as most people spend calling it EST.
The short answer
EDT is Eastern Daylight Time: UTC−4. It is in force from 2026-03-08 to 2026-11-01 this year.
Outside those dates the eastern US is on EST (UTC−5). The label that is correct all year is ET.
Where and when it applies
The eastern seaboard of the US and Canada — New York, Toronto, Boston, Miami, Atlanta, Washington DC — from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
That is about 34 weeks, against 18 weeks of EST. Eastern Daylight Time is the majority state, not the exception, which is the opposite of how most people write it.
Converting from EDT
| To | Difference | Example |
|---|---|---|
| UTC | 4 hours ahead | 09:00 EDT = 13:00 UTC |
| London (BST) | 5 hours ahead | 09:00 EDT = 14:00 London |
| Los Angeles (PDT) | 3 hours behind | 09:00 EDT = 06:00 |
| Chicago (CDT) | 1 hour behind | 09:00 EDT = 08:00 |
| Mumbai (IST) | 9:30 hours ahead | 09:00 EDT = 18:30 |
The India row is the one to note: it is 9:30 in summer and 10:30 hours ahead in winter, because India does not change its clocks and the US does.
The transition weeks
The US enters EDT on 2026-03-08. The UK and EU do not switch until 2026-03-29.
For those three weeks New York is on EDT while London is still on GMT, so the gap is four hours instead of five. Any recurring transatlantic meeting is an hour out for the duration, then silently corrects itself.
In autumn it reverses: Europe leaves summer time on 2026-10-25, the US on 2026-11-01, so there is about a week of the same mismatch in the other direction.
Why you should probably write "ET"
Three abbreviations describe the same place: EST (winter), EDT (summer), and ET (either). Only ET is correct on every date.
Using EST or EDT means asserting an offset, and asserting it correctly requires knowing which side of a transition your date falls on. For anything more than a couple of weeks out, that is a needless risk — write the city instead.
Related: EST vs EDT · Central Daylight Time
Timezone: World Clock Widget
A world clock, converter and live day/night map for iPhone — 325 cities, offline, no account.
Figures on this page are computed from the IANA time zone database. Last generated 2026-08-18.