By this stage the kettle has usually been on once already and the radio is halfway through the morning news, which is precisely when nobody is watching the clock. A live count to 8:04 am does that watching for you, updating continuously so the number in front of you is always the current one.
The figure on this page comes from your own device's clock, checked continuously and recalculated every second against 8:04 am. There is nothing to press and nothing to set up first — the count is already running by the time the page has finished loading, and it keeps going while you are looking at it.
Between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October the country runs on BST rather than GMT, which is why timetables and confirmations sometimes carry the label as well as the number. This page counts down to 8:04 am using whatever your device is currently set to, so the switch is handled for you.
Common questions
What is 08:04 in the 12-hour clock?
That is 8:04 am, or four minutes past eight in the morning if you are saying it aloud. From 13:00 onwards, subtracting twelve gives the pm figure — the same moment written three different ways.
Does the number update by itself?
Yes. It recalculates every second from your device's clock, so there is nothing to refresh or restart. Whatever is on screen is the current gap to the target time, not a figure worked out when the page first loaded.
What happens if 8:04 am has already gone for today?
The count simply carries on towards the next occurrence, which is tomorrow. That rollover happens on its own — the page does not need reloading and there is nothing to reset by hand.
Which clock does it use?
Your own. It reads the local time and time zone from the device you are looking at, so the figure reflects where you actually are rather than a fixed zone written into the page.
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