Best Time for Meetings Between Europe and USA
Business & Remote Work
Europe and the United States share only a narrow slice of the working day. Europe is hours ahead, so by the time New York switches on its computers, much of Europe is already heading into the afternoon. The good news is that this overlap is predictable: with a little planning you can almost always find a slot that lands inside business hours on both sides of the Atlantic. This guide shows you exactly where that window sits.
- The reliable overlap is the European afternoon, which is the US morning.
- For Europe and the US East Coast, aim for roughly 3:00–5:00 PM Central European Time (9:00–11:00 AM in New York).
- The US trails Europe by about 6–9 hours, depending on the coast.
- The US West Coast is the hardest to reach — expect an early start there or a late slot in Europe.
- Watch the Daylight Saving Time changeover weeks, when the gap is briefly an hour smaller than usual.
How Big Is the Time Difference?
Neither “Europe” nor “the USA” is a single time zone, so the first step is knowing the spread. Most of Western and Central Europe runs on Central European Time (UTC+1), with the UK, Ireland and Portugal one hour behind that at UTC+0. The mainland United States covers four zones, from Eastern (UTC−5) on the Atlantic coast to Pacific (UTC−8) on the West Coast.
Put together, the US runs behind Europe by the following amounts during standard (winter) time:
| US zone | Behind the UK (UTC+0) | Behind Central Europe (UTC+1) |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern — New York, Washington | 5 hours | 6 hours |
| Central — Chicago, Dallas | 6 hours | 7 hours |
| Mountain — Denver, Phoenix | 7 hours | 8 hours |
| Pacific — Los Angeles, San Francisco | 8 hours | 9 hours |
These gaps hold for most of the year, but they wobble by an hour for a couple of weeks each spring and autumn — see the Daylight Saving Time section below. To confirm the live difference, open the relevant city pages on this site and compare their clocks side by side.
The Best Window: European Afternoon, American Morning
Because the US lags Europe, the overlap is always at the end of Europe’s day and the start of America’s. The sweet spot for the most common pairing — Central Europe with the US East Coast — is the middle of the European afternoon:
| Location | Recommended slot (local time) |
|---|---|
| Central Europe — Berlin, Paris, Madrid | 3:00–5:00 PM |
| UK / Ireland / Portugal | 2:00–4:00 PM |
| US Eastern — New York | 9:00–11:00 AM |
| US Central — Chicago | 8:00–10:00 AM |
| US Pacific — Los Angeles | 6:00–8:00 AM* |
*An early start for the West Coast. If California must join comfortably, push the meeting an hour or two later in Europe (see below).
Anchored to a single instant, a 4:00 PM meeting in Berlin is 3:00 PM in London, 10:00 AM in New York and 7:00 AM in Los Angeles. For the East Coast that is an unremarkable mid-morning slot; for Europe it is late afternoon but still firmly within working hours.
Matching Europe to Each US Coast
The right slot depends on how far west your American colleagues are:
- Europe ↔ US East Coast. The easiest pairing. A 5–6 hour gap leaves a generous overlap from mid-morning Eastern through to the close of Europe’s day. Anything from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM Central European Time works well.
- Europe ↔ US Central & Mountain. Shift slightly later in the European afternoon, around 4:00–5:00 PM CET, to keep the start time civilised in Chicago or Denver.
- Europe ↔ US West Coast. The toughest combination, with a 8–9 hour gap. The only humane overlap is the late European afternoon meeting the early Californian morning: roughly 5:00–6:00 PM in Europe is 8:00–9:00 AM on the Pacific coast. Beyond that, someone is working outside normal hours.
Mind the Daylight Saving Time Gaps
Both Europe and the United States observe Daylight Saving Time, but they do not switch on the same dates — and that briefly changes the time difference.
- The US springs forward on the second Sunday of March; the EU waits until the last Sunday of March.
- The EU falls back on the last Sunday of October; the US waits until the first Sunday of November.
For the one-to-two-week window between each pair of switches, the Atlantic gap is an hour smaller than usual. In those periods London and New York are only 4 hours apart instead of 5. A meeting booked by the clock can quietly land an hour off, so double-check the offset around mid-to-late March and late October. The London vs New York time difference guide walks through these changeover weeks in detail.
The safest habit is to let your calendar do the conversion: tools such as Google Calendar, Outlook and Apple Calendar store the event at a fixed instant and show each attendee their own local time, so the meeting stays correct even across a clock change.
Keep It Fair and Predictable
When you are booking recurring transatlantic calls, a few habits keep them sustainable:
- Favour the European afternoon. It is the one band that almost always falls inside business hours on both continents, so make it your default.
- Rotate the awkward slot. If a meeting that suits the East Coast forces an early start in California, alternate it with a later slot so the same people are not always squeezed.
- State the time zone explicitly. Write “16:00 CET / 10:00 AM ET”, not just “4 PM”, and include the date — the two sides can be on the edge of different working days.
- Lean on asynchronous updates. Reserve the precious overlap for real discussion, and push status reports into writing people can read on their own schedule.
For the underlying method behind all of this — finding overlaps, using a single reference and sharing times cleanly — see How to Schedule Meetings Across Time Zones.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best time for a meeting between Europe and the US?
The European afternoon. For Central Europe and the US East Coast, 3:00–5:00 PM Central European Time (9:00–11:00 AM in New York) lands inside business hours for everyone.
How many hours is Europe ahead of the USA?
Central Europe is 6 hours ahead of the US East Coast and 9 hours ahead of the West Coast; the UK is one hour less in each case. These figures shift by an hour during the Daylight Saving Time changeover weeks.
Can I find a good time with the US West Coast?
Yes, but the window is narrow. Late afternoon in Europe (around 5:00–6:00 PM) is early morning (8:00–9:00 AM) in California — the only slot that keeps both sides close to business hours.
Why does the time difference sometimes change?
Because Europe and the US start and end Daylight Saving Time on different dates. For a week or two in spring and autumn the gap is an hour smaller than usual, which is why it pays to confirm the offset before an important call.