How to Call The UK From the US

You may be wondering how to call the UK from the US. It may seem a little overwhelming to place a call to the UK from the US, but we’ll break it down into simple steps for you.

There are 4 easy steps that you need to do to complete a call to the UK from the US.

Pay attention to step #3- it matters if you are calling a landline or a mobile device. We will discuss these steps in more detail later on.

Dial 011 or The “+” Key – this is the exit code of the US. This is the start of any international call that is leaving the US. Some cell phones require you to use the + key instead of 011.
Dial 44 – this is the country code for sending a call into the UK.
Dial The Area Code If Calling a Landline or 7 For a Mobile Device
Dial The Rest Of The Phone Number

Now let’s dive into these steps a little bit deeper so that you can be clear on what to do when calling the UK from the US.

UK Country Code

Dialing a phone number outside of the United States can be a little bit confusing to many people.

You first have to remember the exit code to get out of the US, which is 011 as we noted in the 1st step above.

Then you have to dial the country code for the country that you want to call. The UK country code is 44.

So far, the numbers that you would enter for dialing from the US to the UK would like this:

011-44

UK Area Codes

The next part of calling the UK from the US requires you to decide if you are calling a traditional landline or placing a call to a cellular device.

If you are calling a landline, then you need to include an area code as part of your number.

UK area codes consist of as few as 2 digits and up to 5 digits.

Your final local phone number in the UK to a landline will have a total of 10 digits in it, including the area code.

Many times UK area codes are listed with a 0 in front of them. If you see that and are calling from the United States, you just need to ignore the 0 when entering the area code into your phone. The 0 is only used when calling from within the UK.

Here is a list of some of the most common area codes in the UK:

Aberdeen	1224	Huddersfield	1484	Preston	1772
Basildon	1268	Ipswich	1473	Reading	118
Belfast	28	Kettering	1536	Ripon	1765
Birmingham	121	Leeds	113	Rotherham	1709
Blackburn	1254	Leicester	116	Salisbury	1722
Blackpool	1253	Liverpool	151	Sheffield	114
Bolton	1204	London	20	Slough	1753
Bournemouth	1202	Luton	1582	Southampton	23
Bradford	1274	Manchester	161	Southend-on-Sea	1702
Brighton	1273	Middlesbrough	1642	St. Helens	1744
Bristol	117	Newcastle	191	Stoke-on-Trent	1782
Cambridge	1223	Newport	1633	Sunderland	191
Cardiff	29	Northampton	1604	Swansea	1792
Colchester	1206	Norwich	1603	Swindon	1793
Coventry	24	Nottingham	115	Watford	1923
Derby	1332	Oakham	1572	Wincester	1962
Dundee	1382	Oxford	1865	Wolverhampton	1902
Edinburgh	131	Peterborough	1733	Worcester	1905
Glasgow	141	Plymouth	1752	Wormbridge	1981
Gloucester	1452	Portsmouth	23	York	1904

Calling A Cell Phone In The UK

There is a slight difference when calling a mobile device in the UK vs a landline. You do not use area codes with mobile devices.

Instead of UK area codes, you would dial a 7. This signifies that the number you are calling is a cellular device.

The cellular number would then be 9 more digits. This makes the full number 10 digits long, including the 7 that you already dialed to reach a cell phone in the UK.

How to Call London From The US

Let’s continue our example of how to call the UK from the US. And let’s focus on making a call to a number in London.

So, if you are calling a landline in London, then an example might look like this:

011-44-20-1234-5678

011 would be the exit code to leave the US.

44 is the UK country code.

20 is the area code to reach London.

And the remaining 8 digits are the specific number assigned to an individual landline.

If you wanted to call a mobile device, then an example would look like this:

011-44-7-123-456-789

The US exit code (011) and the UK country code (44) are the same. The difference is the 7 that identifies the number as a cellular number and then the remaining 9 digits are unique to each cellular subscriber.

What Is The Time Difference Between the US and the UK?

The last thing to consider when calling the UK from the US is when to call.

Unlike the larger United States, the UK only has one time zone.

The easy way to remember the difference is to know that the time in the UK is 5 hours ahead of the east coast of the US. And then compare that time to your time zone.

The more technical way is to compare the time zones to Universal Time Coordinated (UTC).

The United Kingdom time zone is UTC +1, or 1 hour ahead of UTC.

The 6 time zones of the United States are:

– Eastern Time (EDT): UTC-4

– Central Time (CDT): UTC-5

– Mountain Time (MDT): UTC-6

– Pacific Time (PDT): UTC-7

– Alaska Time (AKDT): UTC-8

– Hawaii Time (HST): UTC-10

So if you are living in Hawaii, the UK would be 11 hours ahead of you.

A great free tool to plan your call to the UK can be found here (https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html?p1=1440)

Like most of the United States, the UK does observe Daylight Savings Time (DST). The change starts in late March when clocks will be moved 1 hour forward.

Then at the end of October time is changed back 1 hour for the winter months.

How Much Does It Cost To Call The UK

Calling the United Kingdom using a traditional landline or cellular phone can be quite expensive. Most carriers have large international fees that can add up quickly.

Using a VoIP service can be the cheapest way to call the UK. Since VoIP uses your already existing internet service, you can connect to the UK without much extra cost. We partner with the best companies such as Nextiva and Verizon to provide you with stellar integrated telecom, internet, voice, and data services. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you.

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