Days until Christmas, counted live.

To find the days until Christmas, count the calendar days from today to 25 December. The countdown above does it for you and keeps ticking: it shows the days left, then the exact hours, minutes and seconds, to the first moment of Christmas Day on your clock. As a worked example, on 18 October 2026 there are 68 days to go, which is 9 weeks and 5 days, until Friday 25 December 2026.

How to use the Christmas countdown

1. Read the big number. It is the calendar days left, and the line under it says which day it counts to.
2. Under Count to, choose Christmas Day, 25 December or Christmas Eve, 24 December.
3. Under Time zone, keep your own zone or pick another place. The count then runs to midnight there.
4. Press Full screen to fill a display with the numbers. Press Copy link to send the page with your choices, or Copy result for one line of text.

Christmas Day is always 25 December

The date does not move, only the day of the week does. US federal law lists Christmas Day as December 25 (checked 18 Oct 2026, 5 U.S.C. 6103), and the federal holidays page of the US Office of Personnel Management shows it on that date every year. Here is the day of the week for the next eight years.

The weekday moves one day later each year, and two days when a 29 February falls in between. That is why 2027 gives Saturday and 2028 gives Monday.

Days, sleeps and weeks

The sleeps are the nights between now and Christmas morning, so the count is the same as the calendar days left. On 18 October 2026, 18 October to 25 December is 13 days to the end of October, 30 in November and 25 in December, which is 68. The weeks are 68 divided by 7: 9 weeks and 5 days left over.

The exact time left is a different measure. At noon on 18 October in a place where the clocks do not change in between, such as UTC, there are 67 days and 12 hours until midnight at the start of 25 December, because half of today has gone. Where the clocks go back in autumn, as they do in New York and London, one more hour is added. The totals in hours, minutes and seconds use that exact time.

Weekdays and weekend days left

The two cards split the days before Christmas into Monday to Friday and Saturday and Sunday, counting today. From 18 October to 24 December 2026 that is 49 weekdays and 19 weekend days, and 49 plus 19 is the 68 days. Use them to see how many working days and how many free days you have to plan, shop, post cards or travel. The count knows nothing about shop opening hours or last posting dates, so check those with the shop or the carrier.

When Christmas falls on a weekend

Under 5 U.S.C. 6103, a holiday on a Saturday is observed on the Friday before for federal employees with a Monday to Friday week. The OPM table for 2027 lists Christmas Day as Friday, December 24, because 25 December 2027 is a Saturday (checked 18 Oct 2026). Other employers and countries follow their own rules, so check yours.

Christmas around the world, by the clock

Christmas starts at midnight on each local clock, so it arrives in the east first. In December, Auckland is 13 hours ahead of London, so when London reaches midnight on 25 December it is already 1 pm in Auckland. New York is 5 hours behind London, so it is 7 pm on 24 December there. Pick a place under Time zone to count to its midnight.

The count from a few dates

Counted by the calendar to 25 December 2026, there are 54 days left on 1 November, 24 on 1 December, 10 on 15 December and 5 on 20 December. Each is the number of dates to cross: from 1 December to 25 December is 24. The page does the same sum for whatever day you open it.

Common problems

• Off by one day. The big number counts dates. The exact time left rounds down, so it can be one day less in the boxes.
• On Christmas Day itself. The page says Today and counts to the next one.
• Wrong zone. The page uses your device's time zone unless you pick another.

To count to any other date, use the countdown to date. For the gap between two dates, try days between dates. The next big date is New Year.