Christmas Countdown
Days, hours and sleeps until Christmas — live, in your time zone.
About this countdown
The time until Christmas morning, live to the second, in your own time zone — with the count in "sleeps" for the audience that measures time that way. On December 25 it switches to celebrating, and on Boxing Day it quietly begins the 364-day question all over again.
Christmas timing trivia
Which weekday Christmas falls on reshapes whole holiday seasons (the page shows this year's), and the pattern cycles with the calendar: the weekday advances one step per year, two across a leap year, repeating every 28 years. The date itself never moves — December 25 was fixed by the fourth century — but when the season starts is a genuine cultural variable, from Advent's four Sundays to retail's September creep. For the record, the first "sleep" countdowns children run are also their first encounter with date arithmetic — and for every other date worth counting to, the general countdown handles birthdays, exams and launches, with pinned events that live on your device.
Frequently asked questions
How many days until Christmas?
The live count is at the top of this page, computed to midnight December 25 in your own time zone — days, hours, minutes and seconds.
What are 'sleeps'?
Nights between now and Christmas morning — the unit that makes sense to anyone under ten. It can differ from the day count by one depending on the time of day.
Does the countdown adjust for my time zone?
Yes — it targets your local midnight at the start of December 25, so a child in Auckland and one in Alaska each get their own correct number.
What day is Christmas this year?
The countdown shows the weekday under the timer. It advances one weekday per year — two when a leap day falls in between — cycling every 28 years.