Colombo Time Converter - Sri Lanka Time to London, Dubai, New York and More
Pick a date and time in Colombo or any city on the list, choose a second city, and see the time there, the exact difference, whether the date changes, and the working hours the two places share.
Maintained by Hirantha Sandaruwan Lakshan. Updated 13 October 2026.
About this tool
Sri Lanka stays on UTC+5:30 all year, but many of the cities you work with in Europe, North America and Australasia change their clocks, so the gap with them moves twice a year. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere.
How it works
Sri Lanka uses Sri Lanka Standard Time, UTC+5:30, all year, and does not use daylight saving today. London, for example, is 5 hours 30 minutes behind Colombo in winter (UTC+0) and 4 hours 30 minutes behind in summer (UTC+1). The gap changes when the other country changes its clocks, not Sri Lanka.
You type a date and time for the first city. The page works out the exact moment in UTC and then asks your browser what the clock reads in the second city, using the time zone support built into Intl.DateTimeFormat, which draws on the IANA time zone database. No time zone data is bundled with the page and no network call is made. The list uses IANA zone names such as Asia/Colombo and Europe/London; Frankfurt uses Germany's zone, Europe/Berlin, and Doha uses Asia/Qatar.
Sri Lanka has not always been on UTC+5:30. The IANA time zone database records UTC+6:30 from 25 May 1996, UTC+6:00 from 26 October 1996, and UTC+5:30 again from 15 April 2006. Because this tool uses your browser's time zone data, past dates follow that history. Future daylight saving dates follow the rules your browser knows today, and governments sometimes change them, so confirm an important meeting time with the other side. For example, British Columbia moved to permanent UTC-7 in 2026 (IANA release 2026b), which browsers with older data do not know, so Vancouver is not in the list.
The working hours hint compares 9:00 to 17:00 in both places (you can change the hours) on the date you chose. It also looks at the other city's previous and next day, so it finds overlaps that cross midnight. Weekends and public holidays are not considered. On the day clocks change, a local time can be missing (clocks jump forward) or happen twice (clocks go back); the page tells you, and uses the next valid time or the first of the two.
Worked examples
Colombo to London in October 2026
17:30 in Colombo on Tuesday 13 October 2026 is 13:00 in London, which is on British Summer Time (UTC+1), so London is 4 hours 30 minutes behind. After the UK clocks go back on 25 October 2026, the same 17:30 in Colombo is 12:00 in London, 5 hours 30 minutes behind.
A New York meeting seen from Colombo
9:00 in New York on 13 October 2026 (UTC-4) is 18:30 in Colombo. The same 9:00 in January (UTC-5) is 19:30 in Colombo. The difference is 9 hours 30 minutes in US summer time and 10 hours 30 minutes in winter.
When the date changes
02:00 in Colombo on 13 October 2026 is 21:30 on 12 October in London: one day earlier. 22:00 in Colombo is 01:30 the next day in Tokyo, which is 3 hours 30 minutes ahead: one day later.
Shared working hours with Colombo (13 October 2026)
London overlaps from 13:30 to 17:00 Colombo time (09:00 to 12:30 in London), 3 hours 30 minutes. Dubai overlaps from 10:30 to 17:00. Singapore overlaps from 09:00 to 14:30. Sydney, on summer time, overlaps from 09:00 to 11:30 Colombo time. New York has no overlap inside 9 to 5 in both places.
Popular cities compared with Colombo (UTC+5:30, no daylight saving)
| City | Standard time | Daylight saving time | Colombo compared with it |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | UTC+0 | UTC+1 (last Sunday of March to last Sunday of October) | Colombo is 5h 30m ahead (4h 30m ahead in summer) |
| Frankfurt | UTC+1 | UTC+2 (same dates as the UK) | Colombo is 4h 30m ahead (3h 30m ahead in summer) |
| New York | UTC-5 | UTC-4 (second Sunday of March to first Sunday of November) | Colombo is 10h 30m ahead (9h 30m ahead in summer) |
| Toronto | UTC-5 | UTC-4 (same dates as New York) | Colombo is 10h 30m ahead (9h 30m ahead in summer) |
| Los Angeles | UTC-8 | UTC-7 (same dates as New York) | Colombo is 13h 30m ahead (12h 30m ahead in summer) |
| Dubai | UTC+4 | none | Colombo is 1h 30m ahead |
| Doha | UTC+3 | none | Colombo is 2h 30m ahead |
| Mumbai | UTC+5:30 | none | same time as Colombo |
| Singapore | UTC+8 | none | Colombo is 2h 30m behind |
| Kuala Lumpur | UTC+8 | none | Colombo is 2h 30m behind |
| Tokyo | UTC+9 | none | Colombo is 3h 30m behind |
| Sydney | UTC+10 | UTC+11 (first Sunday of October to first Sunday of April) | Colombo is 4h 30m behind (5h 30m behind in summer) |
Frequently asked questions
What is the time difference between Sri Lanka and the UK?
Sri Lanka is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of the UK in winter, when London is on UTC+0, and 4 hours 30 minutes ahead in summer, when London is on British Summer Time (UTC+1). UK clocks change on the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October.
Does Sri Lanka have daylight saving time?
No. Sri Lanka is on UTC+5:30 all year (IANA zone Asia/Colombo). Its offset was different between 1996 and 2006: the IANA database records UTC+6:30 from 25 May 1996, UTC+6:00 from 26 October 1996 and UTC+5:30 again from 15 April 2006.
What time is it in Sri Lanka when it is 9 am in New York?
It is 18:30 (6:30 pm) in Colombo when New York is on summer time (UTC-4) and 19:30 (7:30 pm) when New York is on standard time (UTC-5).
What are good meeting times between Sri Lanka and other countries?
With London in summer, 13:30 to 17:00 Colombo time works for 9 to 5 in both places, and in winter it is 14:30 to 17:00. Dubai gives 10:30 to 17:00 and Singapore gives 09:00 to 14:30. With New York, 9 to 5 hours do not overlap, so someone has to work early or late. Use the working hours hint to test your own dates.
Why does the tool use my browser's time zone data?
Browsers ship the IANA time zone database through Intl.DateTimeFormat, so the page needs no network call and no copy of the data. For past dates the browser applies the recorded history, such as Sri Lanka's 1996 to 2006 offsets. For future dates it applies the rules it knows today, which a government can still change.
Why can a local time be missing or happen twice?
When clocks jump forward an hour, the times in that hour do not exist, and when they go back an hour, the times in that hour happen twice. The page shows a note on those days and uses the next valid time, or the first of the two.
How do I write Sri Lanka's time zone?
Sri Lanka Standard Time is UTC+5:30, also written GMT+5:30. The IANA name that software uses is Asia/Colombo.
Is my data stored or sent anywhere?
No. The dates and times you pick stay in your browser. The page makes no network request.
Sources & references
- IANA Time Zone Database, project page (current release 2026e at 2026-10-13)
- IANA tz database source file asia, Asia/Colombo entry (1996 and 2006 changes), checked 2026-10-13
- IANA tz database release notes (NEWS): British Columbia moved to permanent UTC-7 in release 2026b, checked 2026-10-13
- Intl.DateTimeFormat timeZone option - MDN
- Time in Sri Lanka - Wikipedia (Sri Lanka Standard Time, UTC+5:30), checked 2026-10-13
Updated Oct 13, 2026