Best meeting times for US-Europe collaboration
If you're scheduling between the US East Coast and Europe (London or mainland), the math is unforgiving. The US is 5-6 hours behind Europe most of the year. Your overlap window is roughly 4 hours wide. Pick wrong and someone's working at 7 AM or 7 PM.
For checking specific times, the meeting planner shows overlap windows for any city pair. The rest of this post covers the strategy.
The basic math
In winter (October-March):
- New York: UTC-5 (EST)
- London: UTC+0 (GMT)
- Difference: 5 hours
In summer (March-October):
- New York: UTC-4 (EDT)
- London: UTC+1 (BST)
- Difference: 5 hours (still)
Wait — same difference? Yes. Both regions shift DST simultaneously most of the year, so the offset between them stays constant for ~50 weeks of the year.
But during the gap weeks (1-3 weeks per year when only one region has shifted DST), the difference is 4 hours instead of 5. This is the "DST gap" that breaks recurring meetings.
The 4-hour overlap window
Assuming standard 9-5 working hours in both regions:
- New York 9 AM = London 2 PM
- New York 12 PM = London 5 PM
- New York 5 PM = London 10 PM
- London 9 AM = New York 4 AM
- London 5 PM = New York 12 PM
So the overlap (when both are at desk during business hours) is roughly:
- 9 AM-1 PM EST = 2-6 PM GMT
That's 4 hours per day.
The single best slot
For transatlantic meetings, 11 AM Eastern Time / 4 PM London Time is the single best slot:
- New York: late morning, post-coffee, pre-lunch
- London: mid-afternoon, post-lunch
- Both are clearly inside business hours
- Stays 4 PM in London year-round (because London and NYC shift DST simultaneously)
Many transatlantic recurring meetings happen at this slot. It's so popular that calendar apps sometimes flag it as "high competition."
What about US West Coast and Europe?
Adding 3 hours to the US side makes the math worse:
- San Francisco 9 AM = London 5 PM
- San Francisco 11 AM = London 7 PM (already past their workday)
- London 9 AM = San Francisco 1 AM (impossible)
The overlap window collapses to roughly:
- 9-11 AM PT = 5-7 PM BST
That's 2 hours, max. And one side is at the very end of their day.
For US West-Europe teams, asynchronous communication is usually the answer. If a synchronous meeting is required, 9 AM Pacific / 5 PM London is the only realistic window.
The DST gap problem
Twice a year, one region shifts DST and the other doesn't yet:
Mid-March (US shifts, EU hasn't yet):
- US: shifts to EDT on second Sunday of March
- EU: still on standard time until last Sunday of March
- For 2-3 weeks: NY-London difference is 4 hours instead of 5
- Recurring meetings appear to "shift" by an hour for the affected weeks
Late October-early November (EU shifts back, US still on DST):
- EU: shifts back to standard time on last Sunday of October
- US: still on DST until first Sunday of November
- For 1 week: NY-London difference is 4 hours instead of 5
- Same shift confusion
These gap weeks are when most "wait, when's the meeting?" emails happen.
The fix: anchor to UTC
For any recurring meeting between US and Europe, anchor it to UTC, not to a local zone.
In Google Calendar:
1. Create the meeting
2. Click the time zone selector (small icon next to the time)
3. Pick "(GMT) Coordinated Universal Time"
4. Set the time
The meeting now appears at:
- A consistent UTC time
- A shifting US time (depending on whether US is on EDT or EST)
- A shifting Europe time (depending on whether EU is on BST/CEST or GMT/CET)
Both attendees see the meeting at "different" times during the year, but the underlying UTC moment is consistent. No more gap weeks.
The "11 AM ET" anchor
If you don't want to use UTC explicitly, anchor the meeting to "Eastern Time" (Generic) rather than "EST" or "EDT":
- "11 AM Eastern Time" automatically follows DST
- During gap weeks, the recurring meeting still happens at 11 AM ET, which is the equivalent of 4 PM GMT (gap week, 5-hour difference) or 4 PM BST (regular weeks, 5-hour difference)
- The London side sees the meeting at a slightly different local time during gap weeks, but it's predictable
This is the second-best approach if UTC anchoring confuses people.
Best slots for various US-EU pairs
| US zone | EU zone | Best meeting time (US local) | Equivalent EU time |
|---------|---------|------------------------------|---------------------|
| NY (ET) | London (UK) | 11 AM | 4 PM |
| NY (ET) | Paris/Berlin (CET) | 10 AM | 4 PM |
| NY (ET) | Madrid (CET) | 10 AM | 4 PM |
| Boston (ET) | London | 11 AM | 4 PM |
| Atlanta (ET) | London | 11 AM | 4 PM |
| Chicago (CT) | London | 9 AM | 3 PM |
| Chicago (CT) | Paris | 9 AM | 4 PM |
| Denver (MT) | London | 8 AM | 3 PM |
| Phoenix (MST, no DST) | London | 8 AM (winter), 9 AM (summer) | 3 PM London winter, 4 PM London summer |
| LA (PT) | London | 9 AM | 5 PM |
(Phoenix is unusual because Arizona doesn't observe DST — the gap to London shifts by 1 hour twice a year.)
What to avoid
Avoid scheduling at the edges of the overlap. A 5 PM London meeting feels late to Europeans (they're trying to leave). A 9 AM Eastern meeting feels early to Americans (still in the morning rush). Stick to the middle.
Avoid Friday afternoons. Both sides tend to wind down early on Fridays. Late Friday meetings are productivity dead zones.
Avoid weeks of public holidays. US holidays (Thanksgiving, July 4) and European holidays (Christmas through New Year, August summer break) shift the natural rhythm. Avoid these when planning major meetings.
Tools that help
- The meeting planner — pick US and EU cities, see overlap windows for any date
- Google Calendar's "World Clock" sidebar — show UK/Paris time next to your local
- Slack's status hours — set working hours so colleagues see when you're available
- The time converter — single-conversion sanity check
FAQ
Why is the EU-US time difference always 5 hours?
It's not always 5 hours — it shifts to 4 hours during gap weeks. But for ~95% of the year, it's 5 hours because both regions observe DST on roughly the same dates (with 2-3 week gaps).
Will the EU's DST abolition fix this?
If the EU successfully abolishes DST and locks to summer time, the EU-US gap (5 hours in winter, 4 hours in summer with 1-week gap weeks) becomes a constant 4 hours. If the EU locks to winter time, the gap is constant at 5 hours. Either way, gap weeks disappear.
What about Daylight Saving Time legislation in the US?
If the US adopts permanent DST (Sunshine Protection Act), the US-EU gap becomes 4 hours year-round. If the US abolishes DST entirely (less likely), the gap becomes 5 hours year-round.
Should I always anchor to UTC?
For recurring cross-region meetings, yes. It's the cleanest solution. For one-off meetings, picking a local zone and accepting the conversion is fine.
Can I use ET (Eastern Time) without specifying EST/EDT?
Most modern calendars handle "Eastern Time" as a generic zone that follows DST. This is usually preferable to picking EST or EDT explicitly.
How do I handle vacations and holidays?
For the US, account for Memorial Day (late May), Independence Day (July 4), Labor Day (early September), Thanksgiving (late November), Christmas/New Year. For Europe, the long August summer break (especially France/Germany) is significant.
Bottom line
The 11 AM ET / 4 PM GMT slot is the single best transatlantic meeting time. Anchor recurring meetings to UTC to eliminate the twice-yearly DST gap. The overlap window is genuinely narrow (about 4 hours), so creative scheduling helps when teams are widely distributed.
For specific city pairs and exact overlaps, the meeting planner handles all the math.