Time zones in Europe
Europe uses four main time zones. From west to east they are Western European Time (Ireland, the UK and Portugal), Central European Time (most of the continent), Eastern European Time (Finland, the Baltics, Greece and the south-east), and Moscow and Turkey time.
Summer time: almost every European country moves its clocks forward one hour on the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October, all at the same moment, 01:00 UTC. In Ireland and the UK that is 1 am in March and 2 am in October. Iceland, Turkey, Belarus and Russia keep the same time all year.
The times below are live, worked out by your device.
Western European Time WET / WEST
Winter: UTC · Summer: UTC+1
The zone of Greenwich, home of the prime meridian. Ireland and the UK call winter time Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). In summer the UK uses British Summer Time (BST), and Ireland uses Irish Standard Time (IST): Irish law treats summer time as the standard and winter time as the exception.
- Ireland
- United Kingdom
- Portugal (mainland and Madeira)
- Canary Islands (Spain)
- Faroe Islands
Greenwich Mean Time, all year GMT
Winter: UTC · Summer: UTC (no summer time)
Iceland keeps UTC all year round and has not changed its clocks since 1968, even though Reykjavík is far enough west that the sun is at its highest around 13:30.
- Iceland
Azores Time AZOT / AZOST
Winter: UTC−1 · Summer: UTC
Portugal's Azores islands sit far out in the Atlantic, an hour behind Lisbon.
- Azores (Portugal)
Central European Time CET / CEST
Winter: UTC+1 · Summer: UTC+2
Europe's largest zone, stretching from Spain to Poland. Spain moved to it in 1940 and has stayed, which is part of why Spanish evenings are so light and meals so late: Madrid lies west of Greenwich, yet its clocks are an hour ahead of London's.
- Spain (mainland and Balearics)
- France
- Belgium
- Netherlands
- Luxembourg
- Germany
- Switzerland
- Austria
- Italy
- Malta
- Denmark
- Norway
- Sweden
- Poland
- Czechia
- Slovakia
- Hungary
- Slovenia
- Croatia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Serbia
- Montenegro
- Albania
- North Macedonia
- Kosovo
- Andorra
- Monaco
- Liechtenstein
- San Marino
- Vatican City
Eastern European Time EET / EEST
Winter: UTC+2 · Summer: UTC+3
Two hours ahead of Ireland in both winter and summer, covering Finland, the Baltic states and the south-east of Europe.
- Finland
- Estonia
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- Greece
- Cyprus
- Moldova
- Ukraine
Kaliningrad Time EET
Winter: UTC+2 · Summer: UTC+2 (no summer time)
Russia's Baltic exclave keeps UTC+2 all year, so it matches Finland in winter and Germany in summer.
- Kaliningrad (Russia)
Moscow and Turkey Time MSK / TRT
Winter: UTC+3 · Summer: UTC+3 (no summer time)
Turkey, Belarus and western Russia keep UTC+3 all year with no summer time. That makes them three hours ahead of Ireland in winter and two hours ahead in summer.
- Turkey
- Belarus
- Russia (Moscow, St Petersburg)