European Time Zones Explained: WET, CET, EET and Moscow Time

Western European Time (WET, UTC+0) and Western European Summer Time (WEST, UTC+1) cover Portugal, the Canary Islands and the Faroe Islands. The UK and Ireland use the same hours under different names: GMT and BST in the UK, and GMT and Irish Standard Time in Ireland.

Central European Time (CET, UTC+1) and Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2) cover the largest block: France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Scandinavia and the western Balkans.

Eastern European Time (EET, UTC+2) and Eastern European Summer Time (EEST, UTC+3) cover Greece, Finland, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Baltic states, Cyprus and Moldova.

Turkey and Moscow time (MSK, UTC+3) do not change the clocks. Samara in Russia (UTC+4) and the Caucasus countries (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, UTC+4) are further east still.

Ireland and Portugal show the same time as the UK all year. Spain, France, Germany, Italy and the rest of Central Europe are one hour ahead of the UK all year, because the UK and the EU change on the same day. Greece, Finland, Romania and other eastern members are two hours ahead.

Countries that do not change their clocks drift against the UK. Iceland is on GMT all year, so it matches the UK in winter and is one hour behind in summer. Turkey and Moscow are three hours ahead of the UK in winter and two hours ahead in summer.

Spain sits west of Greenwich on the map, in the same longitude band as the UK and Portugal, but uses Central European Time. The country moved its clocks to German time in 1940 during the Second World War and never moved them back. As a result, Madrid's sun is high in the sky at about 14:00 and sunset in summer comes after 21:30, which is part of why late dinners are normal there.

All EU countries, and the UK, change at 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October. In 2026 the clocks go back on Sunday, 25 October 2026, and in 2027 they go forward on Sunday, 28 March 2027. It is one moment worldwide, so it is a different local time on each side: 02:00 BST in London, 03:00 CEST in Berlin and 04:00 EEST in Athens.

Non-EU Europe is mixed. Switzerland, Norway, Serbia and the other western Balkan states follow the EU dates. Ukraine and Moldova also change their clocks in spring and autumn, while Russia, Belarus, Turkey and Iceland do not change clocks at all.

Iceland uses GMT all year and has done since 1968. Russia ended seasonal changes in 2014 and stayed on what had been winter time. Belarus has stayed on UTC+3 since 2011. Turkey moved to permanent UTC+3 in 2016. Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan stay on UTC+4. That is why the gap between the UK and Moscow shifts between three hours in winter and two hours in summer.

Use the +1 hour rule for most of continental Europe and the +2 hour rule for the east. For a meeting between London and Paris, 10:00 in London is 11:00 in Paris, every day of the year. For a call with Athens or Helsinki, add two hours.

Check the week of the changeover when you plan travel across the clock change itself, since timetables are published in local time and a night train or ferry can arrive an hour earlier or later by the clock than you might expect. The master Europe time page on this site has a live table of every zone.