For the moment, time is nothing up north (4)
I believe the answer is:
'nothing up north' is the definition.
(northern dialect term for 'nothing')
'for the moment time' is the wordplay.
'for the moment' becomes 'now'.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'now'+'t'='NOWT'
'is' is the link.
(Other definitions for nowt that I've seen before include "Nothing (N. English)", "Northern 15 [NIX]", "0", "Duck", "FA".)
I've seen this clue in The Times.