Through the hottest months, work on open sites pauses for a few hours in the middle of the day, which gives the schedule a hard edge whether or not anyone is watching a clock. If 12:59 pm is that edge, this page tracks the exact time remaining, down to the second, with nothing to set up first.
Accuracy comes from the device rather than from the page, so a machine whose clock has drifted will produce a countdown that drifts with it. Most phones and laptops sync automatically over the network and stay within a second, but it is worth a glance if the figure ever looks wrong.
Airport boards, metro timetables and prayer time tables are all printed in 24-hour form, which is why 12:59 is the version that matters when checking something against a screen or a printed sheet. This page shows 12:59 pm for everyday reading and 12:59 beside it, so the two never need converting in your head.
Common questions
What is 12:59 on a 12-hour clock?
The same instant is 12:59 pm in writing and one minutes to one in the afternoon out loud. Anything from 13:00 onwards loses twelve to give the pm figure, which is the only sum involved in moving between the two.
Does the number update by itself?
Yes. It is recalculated every second from your device's clock, so nothing needs refreshing or restarting. Whatever is on screen is the current gap to 12:59 pm, not a figure worked out when the page first opened.
What happens once 12:59 pm has passed for today?
The count rolls over and carries on towards the same time tomorrow. That happens on its own at the moment the time passes — the page does not need reloading and there is nothing to reset by hand.
Which clock does the countdown use?
Your own. It reads the local time and time zone from the device in front of you, which in the Emirates means Gulf Standard Time, UTC+4. Travel and the count follows whatever the device picks up.