Berlin adds 2 hours to UTC from late March to late October. If you search "CEST time now" in January, the live clock below shows CET (UTC+1) instead. The offset changes automatically: UTC+2 in summer, UTC+1 in winter.
What is the current CEST time?
The clock shows the exact time in Paris, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, and every other city on the Europe/Paris IANA zone. It updates each second and pulls the offset from your browser's timezone data, cross-referenced against the EU daylight saving schedule.
Is CEST active right now?
Yes, CEST is active. The schedule repeats every year on fixed dates:
- CEST runs from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October
- 2026: 29 March (clocks jump 02:00 → 03:00) to 25 October (clocks fall back 03:00 → 02:00)
- 2027: 28 March to 31 October
Algeria and Tunisia stay on CET (UTC+1) year-round. During summer they run 1 hour behind the rest of the zone. If you are scheduling with Algiers or Tunis between April and October, subtract an hour from CEST.
What the live clock shows
The clock reads the Europe/Paris IANA zone, which follows the EU DST rules in Directive 2000/84/EC. It displays three things:
- The current time in the Central European zone
- The active UTC offset (UTC+2 in summer, UTC+1 in winter)
- A live second counter
The clock uses your internet connection, not your device's local clock setting. A wrong device timezone does not affect it.
CEST vs your local time
Offsets shift when the US and Europe change clocks on different dates. For roughly two weeks in March and one week in October, the gap shrinks by an hour.
| Your location | Difference from CEST (July) |
|---|---|
| New York | 6 hours behind |
| Los Angeles | 9 hours behind |
| Chicago | 7 hours behind |
| London | 1 hour behind |
| São Paulo | 5 hours behind |
| Johannesburg | same time |
| Dubai | 2 hours ahead |
| Mumbai | 3.5 hours ahead |
| Singapore | 6 hours ahead |
| Tokyo | 7 hours ahead |
| Sydney | 8 hours ahead |
Where is CEST used right now?
- CEST = UTC+2
- IANA zones using this metazone: Africa/Algiers, Africa/Ceuta, Africa/Tunis, Europe/Andorra, Europe/Belgrade, Europe/Berlin, Europe/Brussels, Europe/Budapest, Europe/Gibraltar, Europe/Madrid, Europe/Malta, Europe/Paris, Europe/Prague, Europe/Rome, Europe/Tirane, Europe/Vienna, Europe/Warsaw, Europe/Zurich
- Not used by the UK, Portugal, Greece, or Eastern Europe
- First introduced during World War I by Germany and Austria-Hungary to save fuel
- EU-wide harmonization came via Directive 2000/84/EC in 2001
The European Parliament voted in 2019 to end seasonal clock changes by 2021. The Council of the EU has not agreed a position. As of September 2026, the current system remains in place with no implementation date set.
Practical tip: When scheduling across timezones, check whether both sides observe daylight saving. The US switches on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November; Europe switches on the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. The gap weeks change the offset. For the full background on why Europe uses summer time, see what is CET. For the exact difference between the two seasons, check CET vs CEST. For the precise switch dates, visit the daylight saving page.