Golden hour in London

Golden hour in London starts at 20:26 on 15 June and runs 54 minutes; on 15 December it is 61 minutes from 14:51. The calculator above is preset to London — 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 London

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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 London: all twelve months

The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of London (51.5074, -0.1278) in the Europe/London timezone, DST included. Between December (61 minutes) and March (44 minutes) the evening window changes by a factor of 1.4.

Golden and blue hour in London, 2026 (mid-month, local time)
MonthSunriseSunsetGolden am (until)Golden pm (from)Blue hour (from)Daylight
January08:0016:2108:5815:2316:448h 20min
February07:1617:1508:0416:2717:379h 59min
March06:1618:0507:0017:2018:2511h 49min
April06:0619:5606:5119:1120:1813h 51min
May05:1020:4606:0019:5621:1015h 36min
June04:4421:2005:3820:2621:4816h 36min
July05:0121:1305:5320:2121:3916h 12min
August05:4620:2506:3319:3920:4814h 39min
September06:3619:1807:2018:3419:3812h 42min
October07:2518:0908:1117:2318:3010h 45min
November07:1916:1308:1215:2016:368h 54min
December08:0015:5209:0214:5116:177h 52min

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 05:38 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 04:44.

After sunset, London still offers the blue hour: from 21:48 to 22:07 in June (19 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 London today?

Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for London from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 20:26, in mid-December at 14:51.

How long does golden hour last in London?

Between 44 minutes (March) and 61 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.