Europe spans seven primarytime zones (fromUTC−01:00 toUTC+05:00), excludingsummer time offsets (five of them can be seen on the map, with one further-western zone containing theAzores, and one further-eastern zone spanning theUral regions of Russia and European part ofKazakhstan). Most European countries use summer time and harmonise their summer time adjustments; seeSummer time in Europe for details.
The time zones actually in use in Europe differ significantly from uniform zoning based purely on longitude, as used for example under thenautical time system. The world could in theory be divided into 24 time zones, each spanning 15 degrees of longitude. However, due to geographical and cultural factors, it is not practical to divide the world so evenly, and actual time zones may differ significantly from those based purely on longitude. In Europe, the widespread use of Central European Time (CET) causes major variations in some areas fromsolar time. Based on solar time, CET would range from 7.5 to 22.5°E. However, for example Spain (almost entirely in the Western hemisphere) and France (almost entirely west of 7.5°E, as illustrated in the map below) should theoretically use UTC, as they did before the Second World War.[1] The general result is a solar noon which is much later than clock noon, and later sunrises and sunsets than should theoretically happen. The Benelux countries should also theoretically use GMT.
Russia and Belarus observed "permanent summer time" between March 2011 and October 2014.[2] Since October 2014 Russia has observed "permanent winter time". Iceland can be considered to be on "de facto" permanent summer time because, since 1968, it has used UTC time all year, despite being located more than 15° west of the prime meridian. It should therefore be located inUTC−01:00, but chooses to remain closer to continental European time, resulting in legal times significantly in advance of local solar time; this is of little practical significance owing to the wide variations in daylight hours in that country.
TheEuropean Commission proposed in September 2018 ending the observance ofsummer time in the EU.[3] In March 2019, the European Parliament voted in favour of proposing ending seasonal clock changes in 2021.[4] Legislation of the EU is decided by both the Parliament and theCouncil of the European Union, and the Council had not made its decision.[5] Each Member State had been given until April 2020 to decide whether to remain permanently on their previous "summer time" or their "winter time", but in 2020 the complications ofBrexit and theCOVID-19 pandemic overshadowed the discussion. As of October 2024[update], no further meaningful action has been taken up on the matter.[6]
| Colour | Legal time vs local mean time |
|---|---|
| 1 h ± 30 m behind | |
| 0 h ± 30 m | |
| 1 h ± 30 m ahead | |
| 2 h ± 30 m ahead |
| Colour | Legal time vs local mean time |
|---|---|
| 1 h ± 30 m behind | |
| 0 h ± 30 m | |
| 1 h ± 30 m ahead | |
| 2 h ± 30 m ahead | |
| 3 h ± 30 m ahead |
Of the 27 EU member states (all use daylight saving time in the summer):
Of non-EU member states:
Theoverseas territories of Denmark, France, and Netherlands are mostly located outside Europe and use other time zones.
| Time of Day | Common name(s) | UTC | Summer UTC | Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:09, 15 February 2026UTC−01:00[refresh] | Further-western European Time (FWT) / Azores Time (AZOT) | UTC−1 | UTC | Azores (Portugal) |
| 20:09, 15 February 2026UTC+00:00[refresh] | Further-western European Summer Time (FWST) / Azores Summer Time (AZOST) | |||
| 20:09, 15 February 2026UTC+00:00[refresh] | Western European Time (WET) / Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) / Iceland Time (ICT) | UTC | Iceland | |
| 20:09, 15 February 2026UTC+00:00[refresh] | Western European Time (WET) / Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) | UTC | UTC+1 | Portugal (including Madeira); United Kingdom; Republic of Ireland; Faroe Islands; Canary Islands |
| 21:09, 15 February 2026UTC+01:00[refresh] | Western European Summer Time (WEST) ∟ Irish Standard Time (IST) ∟ British Summer Time (BST) | |||
| 21:09, 15 February 2026UTC+01:00[refresh] | Central European Time (CET) | UTC+1 | UTC+2 | Most of mainland western Europe; Scandinavia; Central Europe; Central southern Europe; Western Balkans |
| 22:09, 15 February 2026UTC+02:00[refresh] | Central European Summer Time (CEST) | |||
| 22:09, 15 February 2026UTC+02:00[refresh] | Eastern European Time (EET) / Kaliningrad Time (KALT) | UTC+2 | Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia) | |
| 22:09, 15 February 2026UTC+02:00[refresh] | Eastern European Time (EET) | UTC+2 | UTC+3 | Finland; Baltic states; Ukraine; Moldova; Romania; Bulgaria; Greece |
| 23:09, 15 February 2026UTC+03:00[refresh] | Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) | |||
| 23:09, 15 February 2026UTC+03:00[refresh] | Further-eastern European Time (FET) ∟ Turkey Time (TRT) ∟ Moscow Standard Time (MSK) ∟ Minsk Time (MINT) | UTC+3 | Belarus; Most of western Russia; Turkey; Abkhazia; South Ossetia | |
| 00:09, 16 February 2026UTC+04:00[refresh] | Armenia Time (AMT) / Georgia Time (GET) / Azerbaijan Time (AZT) / Samara Time (SAMT) | UTC+4 | Parts of western Russia; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Georgia | |
| 01:09, 16 February 2026UTC+05:00[refresh] | Yekaterinburg Time (YEKT) | UTC+5 | Western-central Russia; Kazakhstan | |