Current CET Time

Central European Time (CET)

CET (Central European Time) is UTC+1:00, observed in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, and many other European countries during winter. From the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, these countries switch to CEST (Central European Summer Time, UTC+2). The IANA timezone Europe/Paris or Europe/Berlin handles both CET and CEST automatically.

Where Central European Time is observed

CET (UTC+1) is the winter timezone for most of continental Europe. From late March to late October, the same region uses CEST (UTC+2). IANA: Europe/Paris (representative).

• Western & Central Europe: France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, Denmark, Norway
• IANA equivalents: Europe/Berlin, Europe/Paris, Europe/Madrid, Europe/Rome, Europe/Warsaw, etc. all follow the same CET/CEST rules
• Africa: Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco follow UTC+1, though some without DST
• Iceland is UTC+0 year-round and is not on CET

CET vs CEST transition

EU DST changes happen on the last Sunday of March (CET → CEST) and the last Sunday of October (CEST → CET). The EU voted in 2019 to abolish DST but a final decision has been deferred multiple times, so the twice-yearly clock change continues.

• CEST = UTC+2 (summer); CET = UTC+1 (winter)
• Transitions occur at 01:00 UTC, last Sunday of March and last Sunday of October
• Use the country-specific IANA name (Europe/Berlin, Europe/Madrid) instead of the literal "CET"

CET to EST, CET to GMT, CET to UTC pairwise conversions

Common pairwise queries involving CET include "cet timezone to est", "cet to est converter", "cet to est time converter", and "convert central to gmt". Note that "central time" is ambiguous — it may mean CET (UTC+1, continental Europe) or US Central CST (UTC-6); always confirm from context.

• CET to EST / cet timezone to est / cet to est converter / cet to est time converter — CET (UTC+1) is 6 hours ahead of EST (UTC-5) in winter; 12:00 CET = 06:00 EST
• CET to GMT — CET = GMT + 1; 12:00 CET = 11:00 GMT
• CET to UTC — CET = UTC + 1; 12:00 CET = 11:00 UTC
• CET to PST — CET is 9 hours ahead of PST (UTC-8); 12:00 CET = 03:00 PST in winter
• Convert central to GMT / convert central to gmt — for CET this is CET − 1; for US CST it is CST + 6
• Central time to IST conversion / central time to ist conversion — CET → IST is +4:30; US CST → IST is +11:30 in winter

CET central time to GMT conversion

Note: "central time to gmt conversion" can refer to either CET (UTC+1) or US Central CST (UTC-6). For CET this is CET − 1 = GMT.

• Central time to GMT conversion / central time to gmt conversion — for CET: CET − 1 = GMT; for US CST: CST + 6 = GMT in winter