EUROPE TIME ZONES

Most of Europe uses three standard time zones. From west to east the time zones are Western European Time (WET) which is UTC (GMT) +0, Central European Time (CET) which is UTC (GMT)+1 and Eastern European Time (EET) which is UTC (GMT) +2. Western European Standard Time is the same as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), however, during periods when Daylight Saving Time is in use, Western European Summer Time is one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

In Europe Daylight Saving Time is commonly referred to as Summer Time. Summer Time begins at 1:00 a.m. UTC (GMT) on the last Sunday in March. On the last Sunday in October areas on Summer Time (Daylight Saving Time) return to Standard Time at 1:00 am UTC (GMT). The names in each time zone change along with Summer Time. Western European Standard Time (WET) becomes Western European Summer Time (WEST), Central European Time (CET) becomes Central European Summer Time (CEST) and Eastern European Time (EET) becomes Eastern European Summer Time (EEST). Throughout the United Kingdom in the countries of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales Summer Time is referred to as British Summer Time (BST). Iceland and portions of Greenland do not observe daylight saving time. In addition, some local communities in Europe may not follow the official time zone rules.

In April 2011 the Russian Parliament passed legislation to that will keep Russia on Daylight Saving Time year round. This will become Russia's new standard time.

In September 2011 the Ukrainian Parliament passed legislation that would have kept Ukraine on Daylight Saving Time year round, however, this was reversed by the Ukrainian Parliament on Tuesday October 18, 2011 due to widespread objections.

Also in September 2011 the Belarus government passed legislation that will keep Belarus on Daylight Saving Time year round. This will become the new standard time in Belarus which will be GMT/UTC + 3h .

Western portions of Russia which are west of the Ural Mountains are sometimes referred to as being in Europe. This area uses Moscow Standard Time which is now UTC/GMT +4. Georgia (formerly Republic of Georgia) uses UTC (GMT) +4 and does not observe daylight saving time.

Europe Time Zone Map