The coupling between lumped electronic circuits and electromagnetic fields is analysed in time domain by the finite element method (FEM) using edge elements. The classical solution of the vector electric field wave equation by Whitney-elements is modified to take into account the circuit elements. They are introduced in the FEM model by imposing that the current path of a circuit element coincides with an edge of the FEM mesh, so that the voltage drop across the lumped element coincides with the electric field circulation along the edge. In this way the imposition of the current-voltage characteristic of the lumped elements in the FEM equations is straightforward. The results obtained by the proposed method are compared with those obtained by Spice simulations. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.