If you consult from Leeds for a company in Boston, run a London startup with customers in Texas, or moved from Ohio to Edinburgh and still have family back home, the US is part of your week. New York’s morning lands in your afternoon, and the West Coast arrives as you finish for the day. Here is how the hours line up, the weeks each year when they shift, how a +1 number fits each situation, and what to check before you rely on it.
When do UK and US working hours overlap?
The UK is on Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0) in winter and British Summer Time (UTC+1) in summer. Clocks go forward at 1 a.m. on the last Sunday in March and back at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October (GOV.UK). US Eastern time is UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 in summer, Central is an hour behind Eastern and Pacific three hours behind, and US summer runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November (NIST).
Here is a US working day, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., in London time:
| Your US contact is in | London time, most of the year | London time, in the mismatch weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern (New York, Boston, Washington) | 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. | 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. |
| Central (Chicago, Dallas, Houston) | 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. | 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Pacific (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle) | 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. | 4 p.m. to midnight |
So the shared window is short. If you stop at 5 p.m., you have about three hours with New York, 2 to 5 p.m., and two with Chicago. West Coast clients start work as you finish, so keep one or two early evenings a week, around 5 to 7 p.m., for their mornings. Your own morning is the US night: use it for the work itself and for email.
Which weeks does the gap shrink to four hours?
Both countries use summer time, but they switch on different Sundays: the US on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November, the UK on the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. In the weeks between, only one side has moved, and London is four hours ahead of New York instead of five (IANA tz database). Here is the year ahead:
| Dates | What is happening | New York’s 9 a.m. in London |
|---|---|---|
| November 1, 2026 to March 13, 2027 | Both on winter time | 2 p.m. |
| March 14 to 27, 2027 | US on summer time, UK not yet | 1 p.m. |
| March 28 to October 30, 2027 | Both on summer time | 2 p.m. |
| October 31 to November 6, 2027 | UK back on winter time, US not yet | 1 p.m. |
| From November 7, 2027 | Both on winter time | 2 p.m. |
This autumn’s short week has just ended: UK clocks went back on October 25, 2026 and US clocks went back on November 1, 2026, so London is five hours ahead of New York again until March 14, 2027.
The thing that goes wrong in those weeks is the recurring meeting. A weekly call your client set for 9 a.m. Eastern moves from 2 p.m. to 1 p.m. on your calendar. One you set for 2 p.m. London reaches your client at 10 a.m. instead of 9. Agree whose clock the meeting follows, put both time zones in every invite, and look at the week’s calendar on the Monday after each change.
How does a US number work from the UK?
The TripoSIM US Virtual Number runs in the TripoSIM app over Wi-Fi or mobile data, on the same phone as your UK line. On iPhone, add the TripoSIM web app to your Home Screen. On Android, install the TripoSIM app. You need an email address, a payment card and a short ID check with a photo ID and a selfie, about 2 minutes. You do not need a US address or an SSN.
Rules on internet calling differ by country, and on your network a call on the number is an internet call. Check with your regulator or mobile operator before you rely on calls, and keep your UK number for calls inside the UK.
Texts from US senders reach your number in the US and appear in the app over your connection, and verification codes from apps arrive the same way. A text from a UK number usually cannot reach a US number, so UK contacts should call or email.
Which setup fits your situation?
Freelancers and consultants. A US client who wants a quick word before a board meeting would rather dial a +1 number than an international one. Put it on your proposals, invoices and LinkedIn profile with your hours in Eastern time; LinkedIn sent codes to a TripoSIM number in TripoSIM’s tests on October 3, 2026. The consultants page has examples of how consultants list the number.
Americans living in the UK. Family, an old doctor’s office, a US accountant at tax time and friends back home can keep calling a US number. The trap is time: a sister in California calling after dinner, at 7 p.m. Pacific, reaches you at 3 a.m. Turn on do-not-disturb at night, let voicemail take it, and call back in your evening, her morning. The expats page and keep your US number or get a new one? cover the move itself.
Founders with US customers. A +1 number on your US pricing page and invoices lets a customer in Texas call you without an international call. Stripe sent codes to a TripoSIM number in TripoSIM’s tests on October 3, 2026. If you want sales and support calls apart, one person can hold several numbers, each with its own plan; for a team answering one line, read US numbers for remote teams.
How many minutes does a consultant’s month use?
Take Hannah, a made-up example: a supply-chain consultant in Leeds with two US clients. She has a 45-minute call every week with a client in Boston, about 195 minutes a month, and a 30-minute call every two weeks with a client in Chicago, about 65. That is about 260 minutes, inside the 300 minutes a month to the US and Canada. Each outgoing call is rounded up to the next full minute; unanswered calls are free.
She also talks to her mother in Florida every Sunday for 30 minutes, about 130 minutes a month. If Hannah makes those calls, she reaches about 390 minutes and buys extra minutes in the app at $5 per 100. If her mother calls her instead, Hannah stays at about 260: calls to her do not use her minutes and come from a separate fair use of 300 minutes a month. The mismatch weeks change the time of her calls, not the minutes. The cost calculator works out your own month.
What should your contact page and voicemail say?
Give your hours in your client’s time zone, and say where you are:
Call my US line: +1 (your number). I answer Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to noon Eastern, from Leeds, England. Leave a voicemail at any time and I will call back within one working day. For written questions, email (your address).
Hours in Eastern time stay right for your client all year; in the mismatch weeks, it is your own afternoon that moves an hour earlier. Write “call or email”, not “call or text”, and do not suggest a US office you do not have. Voicemail messages can be up to 2 minutes, up to 30 a month, kept 30 days. The voicemail guide and the business contact checklist have more.
What can’t the number do?
- No sending texts. It receives texts only. For chat, contacts can use email or WhatsApp, which you can set up on the same US number.
- No calls out beyond the US and Canada. Use your UK line for UK numbers.
- No 911. It cannot call 911 or any emergency service, so keep your UK number for emergencies.
- No internet, no ring. If your connection drops, callers reach voicemail. Give clients email as the backup.
The bottom line
From the UK, plan US calls for your afternoon: 2 to 5 p.m. for New York for most of the year, 1 to 4 p.m. in the mismatch weeks, and early evening for the West Coast. In 2027 those weeks are March 14 to 27 and October 31 to November 6, so check standing meetings then. Give US contacts a +1 number with your hours in Eastern time, and let voicemail take the calls that come in your night. Check the rules on internet calling first, then test calls with the ten-check reliability test. For other countries, see US phone numbers by country. The plans page has both plans: $100 a year or $12.99 a month.