Ramadan 2027 is expected to begin on Monday 8 February, so the fasts will be short, but not all the same length. In the 12 UK cities we publish, the first fast is expected to last between 11 hours 17 minutes and 11 hours 31 minutes. By 8 March it will have grown to between 13 hours 5 minutes and 13 hours 14 minutes.
Here, "the fast" means the time from Suhoor ends (Fajr) to Iftar (Maghrib), the same definition used on each city's Ramadan timetable. It is longer than the period between sunrise and sunset, because Fajr begins before sunrise.
How long is the fast in each UK city in Ramadan 2027?
The table shows the length of the fast on four dates. Day 1 is the expected first day; the real start depends on moon sighting and your mosque's announcement. The 9 March column applies only if Ramadan lasts 30 days.
City | Mon 8 Feb (day 1) | Tue 23 Feb (day 16) | Mon 8 Mar (day 29) | Tue 9 Mar (day 30) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
11h 17m | 12h 16m | 13h 07m | 13h 11m | |
11h 18m | 12h 13m | 13h 05m | 13h 09m | |
11h 18m | 12h 13m | 13h 05m | 13h 09m | |
11h 24m | 12h 22m | 13h 10m | 13h 14m | |
11h 24m | 12h 23m | 13h 10m | 13h 14m | |
11h 25m | 12h 23m | 13h 11m | 13h 14m | |
11h 25m | 12h 23m | 13h 10m | 13h 14m | |
11h 25m | 12h 23m | 13h 11m | 13h 14m | |
11h 26m | 12h 23m | 13h 12m | 13h 14m | |
11h 28m | 12h 24m | 13h 12m | 13h 15m | |
11h 30m | 12h 24m | 13h 12m | 13h 16m | |
11h 31m | 12h 25m | 13h 14m | 13h 16m |
These figures are read from the same prayer times as each city's own timetable. Click a city for the full day-by-day Suhoor and Iftar times. For all cities together, see the Ramadan 2027 timetable by city.
How the fast grows through the month
Early February days are still short, but they lengthen quickly. Between 8 February and 8 March the fast grows by 1 hour 42 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes depending on the city, which is roughly 3½ to 4 minutes longer each day.
London is a typical example: 11h 18m on 8 February, 12h 13m on 23 February and 13h 5m on 8 March. A fast that begins at about 11 hours and a quarter therefore ends the month at more than 13 hours.
Which UK city has the longest and shortest fast?
The differences between cities are small. On the expected first day the shortest fast in our list is Edinburgh (11h 17m) and the longest is Bristol (11h 31m), a gap of just 14 minutes. By 8 March the gap is 9 minutes, from 13h 5m in London and Ilford to 13h 14m in Bristol.
Two things sit behind these small gaps. Southern cities such as Bristol have slightly longer days in February. And the cities are not all calculated the same way: London and Ilford use the London Unified Prayer Timetable, while the other ten use our own calculation (see below). So the table is a good guide to what to expect, but it is not a strict like-for-like ranking of latitude.
Why other websites show different fasting hours
If you compare two prayer-time websites, you may see a different length of fast for the same city. Usually the cause is one of these:
The Fajr angle. The fast starts at Fajr, so the sun angle used for Fajr matters. Calculated with the same method, an 18 degree Fajr begins about 19 to 21 minutes earlier than a 15 degree Fajr on the first day of Ramadan. A site that uses 15 degrees will show a shorter fast. The next section gives the figures for each city.
What is being measured. Some sites quote daylight, from sunrise to sunset. In London on 8 February, Fajr is 1h 37m before sunrise (05:47 and 07:24), so a "daylight hours" figure is well below the length of the fast.
Safety margins. Many publishers add a few minutes to Maghrib. Our calculated cities and the London Unified Prayer Timetable both include a 3-minute margin after sunset.
Rounding and data source. Times are rounded to the minute in different ways, and mosques often publish their own timetables.
None of this means one source is wrong. These are different published methods, and UK mosques do not all use the same one. For congregational prayer and for the start and end of your fast, follow your local mosque.
How much shorter is the fast if your mosque uses a 15 degree Fajr?
UK mosques do not all use the same Fajr angle. Some timetables use 18 degrees. Others use 15 degrees, or a Fajr time based on observations made in the UK. Scholars differ on this. One UK body, Darul Ifta Birmingham, describes ending suhoor by the 18 degree timetable as "more preferable and an act of precaution", while allowing a 15 degree or observation-based timetable where 18 degrees is difficult to follow. It also notes that many UK timetables rest on observations made by scholars in 1987 to 1988, which suggested the twilight angle varied between about 12 and 16 degrees.
We cannot tell you which to follow, and this page is not a ruling. What we can show is how much the choice changes the length of the fast. The table compares our 18 degree timetable with the same calculation using a 15 degree Fajr (everything else unchanged), for the ten cities that we calculate ourselves.
City | 8 Feb: our timetable (18°) | 8 Feb: 15° Fajr | Difference | 8 Mar: our timetable (18°) | 8 Mar: 15° Fajr | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Edinburgh | 11h 17m | 10h 56m | 21 min | 13h 07m | 12h 59m | 8 min |
Bradford | 11h 24m | 11h 04m | 20 min | 13h 10m | 12h 57m | 13 min |
Bolton | 11h 24m | 11h 04m | 20 min | 13h 10m | 12h 57m | 13 min |
Manchester | 11h 25m | 11h 05m | 20 min | 13h 11m | 12h 58m | 13 min |
Oldham | 11h 25m | 11h 04m | 21 min | 13h 10m | 12h 57m | 13 min |
Liverpool | 11h 25m | 11h 05m | 20 min | 13h 11m | 12h 58m | 13 min |
Nottingham | 11h 26m | 11h 07m | 19 min | 13h 12m | 12h 57m | 15 min |
Coventry | 11h 28m | 11h 08m | 20 min | 13h 12m | 12h 56m | 16 min |
Luton | 11h 30m | 11h 10m | 20 min | 13h 12m | 12h 56m | 16 min |
Bristol | 11h 31m | 11h 12m | 19 min | 13h 14m | 12h 56m | 18 min |
On the first day the 15 degree fast is about 19 to 21 minutes shorter everywhere. By 8 March the gap narrows to between 8 and 18 minutes. That is because in March our 18 degree timetable is held back by the one-seventh-of-the-night adjustment described below, while the 15 degree time is not.
London and Ilford are different. Their times come from the London Unified Prayer Timetable, not from an angle. On 8 February its Fajr is 05:47. Our calculation for London gives 05:34 with an 18 degree Fajr and 05:53 with a 15 degree Fajr, so the published London Fajr sits between the two, about 13 minutes after the 18 degree time and 6 minutes before the 15 degree time.
What does the † mark mean on our timetables?
In the far north of the UK in winter and spring, the sky does not always reach the Fajr angle in a way that gives a sensible time. Where that happens we apply the "one-seventh of the night" adjustment: Fajr is never set earlier than the start of the last seventh of the night. Days where this applies are marked with †.
The effect is largest in Edinburgh, where Fajr is adjusted on 28 of the 31 days in the table. In London and Ilford, which follow the London Unified Prayer Timetable, no day is marked. The adjustment is a product calculation decision, not a religious ruling, and it is explained on the methodology page.
How these times are produced
Ten cities (Edinburgh, Bradford, Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Coventry, Luton and Bristol) are calculated from each city's own coordinates, with Fajr at 18 degrees, Iftar at Maghrib with a 3-minute margin after sunset, and every time rounded once to the nearest minute.
London and Ilford show the London Unified Prayer Timetable exactly as published at londonsalahtimes.com from 1 January 2027, with no recalculation.
The fast is Iftar minus Suhoor ends. No separate Imsak time is published; Suhoor ends at Fajr.
The 15 degree comparison is our own calculation with the same engine, changing only the Fajr angle. It is not a published timetable.
Day 1 is the expected start, Monday 8 February 2027. It is not an announcement.
The full explanation, including the angles and margins, is on the methodology page.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the fast in London in Ramadan 2027?
About 11 hours 18 minutes on the expected first day, 8 February, rising to 13 hours 5 minutes by 8 March (and 13h 9m on 9 March if Ramadan has 30 days). London follows the London Unified Prayer Timetable.
Does the fast get longer during Ramadan?
Yes. In 2027 it grows by roughly 1 hour 42 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes between 8 February and 8 March, about 3½ to 4 minutes a day.
Which UK city has the longest fast?
On the expected first day, Bristol (11h 31m) is the longest in our list and Edinburgh (11h 17m) the shortest. The gap is small: 14 minutes on day 1 and 9 minutes by 8 March.
Why is my mosque's timetable different from this page?
Mosques choose their own Fajr angle (commonly 15 or 18 degrees, or a time based on observation), safety margins and rounding, and some publish a fixed timetable for the whole month. A 15 degree Fajr makes the fast about 19 to 21 minutes shorter than our 18 degree timetable on the first day. If your mosque's times differ, follow your mosque.
When does Ramadan 2027 start in the UK?
It is expected to begin on Monday 8 February 2027, but this depends on moon sighting and your mosque's announcement. The UK Moon Sighting Committee's forecast, based on a new moon at 15:56 UT on 6 February, is that Ramadan is most likely to start on 8 February. See our Ramadan 2027 page for the expected dates, and the Islamic calendar for the Umm al-Qura dates.