Golden hour in Edinburgh

Golden hour in Edinburgh starts at 20:57 on 15 June and runs 64 minutes; on 15 December it is 79 minutes from 14:20. The calculator above is preset to Edinburgh — pick a date and sunrise, sunset, golden and blue hour for that exact shoot day are right there, exportable as a calendar entry.

Golden hour calculator for Edinburgh

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Sunrise
Sunset
Golden hour (am)
Golden hour (pm)
Blue hour (pm)
Daylight
Sunset azimuth

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Golden and blue hour in Edinburgh: all twelve months

The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of Edinburgh (55.9533, -3.1883) in the Europe/London timezone, DST included. Between December (79 minutes) and March (49 minutes) the evening window changes by a factor of 1.6.

Golden and blue hour in Edinburgh, 2026 (mid-month, local time)
MonthSunriseSunsetGolden am (until)Golden pm (from)Blue hour (from)Daylight
January08:3516:1109:4515:0016:397h 36min
February07:3917:1608:3516:2117:409h 37min
March06:3018:1607:1917:2618:3811h 46min
April06:0820:1806:5919:2820:4314h 10min
May05:0121:1905:5820:2221:4816h 17min
June04:2722:0105:3120:5722:3717h 34min
July04:4821:5005:4920:5022:2317h 02min
August05:4420:5206:3719:5921:1815h 08min
September06:4519:3307:3418:4419:5612h 49min
October07:4418:1508:3617:2318:3810h 31min
November07:4916:0708:5315:0416:338h 18min
December08:3815:3909:5714:2016:097h 01min

Fitting the window into the shoot day

The evening window is the reliable half: the crew is warmed up, the setup exists, and golden hour is the last slot before wrap. The morning window right after sunrise (until 05:31 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 04:27.

After sunset, Edinburgh still offers the blue hour: from 22:37 to 23:03 in June (26 minutes). If you need both looks on one evening, everything from the start of golden hour to the end of blue hour is one continuous window — with no room for a re-rig inside it.

Frequently asked

When is golden hour in Edinburgh today?

Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Edinburgh from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 20:57, in mid-December at 14:20.

How long does golden hour last in Edinburgh?

Between 49 minutes (March) and 79 minutes (December) in the evening. The name misleads — it only reaches a full hour in the longest months.

How accurate are the times?

To about one minute (standard NOAA-style solar computation). Not included: horizon shading from buildings or hills to the west — which can genuinely shorten the window at your location.