CET — Central European Standard Time
CET is Central European Standard Time, 1 hour ahead of UTC. It is a fixed offset: unlike a time zone, it does not change with the season — the zones that use it switch to a different abbreviation instead.
Current time in CET
08:46
Sunday, 2 August 2026
CET = UTC+1 · 1 hour ahead of UTC
Shown for 2 Aug 2026 07:46 UTC. The clock goes live as soon as scripts load.
UTC offset
UTC+1
Type
Standard time
Seasonal counterpart
CEST
The letters the same zones use for the other half of the year
Meanings
1
Unambiguous
Is CET in force right now?
A zone only carries this abbreviation for part of the year. This is which of them were on it at 2 Aug 2026 07:46 UTC; the list is re-derived against your own clock when scripts load.
On CET now
- Africa/Tunis — Tunis
- Africa/Algiers — Algiers
Using a different abbreviation
- Europe/Berlin — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Paris — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Rome — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Madrid — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Amsterdam — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Zurich — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Warsaw — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Brussels — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Vienna — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Stockholm — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Oslo — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Copenhagen — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Prague — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Zagreb — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Bratislava — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Budapest — on CEST (UTC+2)
- Europe/Belgrade — on CEST (UTC+2)
CET alternates with CEST across the year.
Writing “CET” for a date in the other half of the year is the most common time zone mistake in meeting invitations.
Convert CET to other time zones
City clocks reflect whatever their zone is doing; where a city observes daylight saving time, its difference from CET changes twice a year. Use the time zone converter for a specific date.
Time zones and cities that use CET
Central European Standard Time · UTC+1
Europe/Berlin
Germany · changes clocks (CET ↔ CEST)
Berlin Frankfurt Cologne Dresden Dusseldorf Hamburg Leipzig Munich Nuremberg Stuttgart
Europe/Paris
France · changes clocks (CET ↔ CEST)
Paris Bordeaux Lyon Marseille Nantes Nice Strasbourg Toulouse
Europe/Rome
Italy · changes clocks (CET ↔ CEST)
Europe/Amsterdam
Netherlands · changes clocks (CET ↔ CEST)
Why CET is not an identifier
CET is shorthand, not a standard. There is no registry of time zone abbreviations, no authority that assigns them, and nothing preventing two regions from adopting the same three letters — which is what makes codes like IST and CST unusable without context.
For anything a machine will read — a calendar invitation, a database column, an API response — use the IANA identifier of the zone (Europe/Berlin, for example) or an explicit UTC offset alongside the date. The identifier survives a change in the law; CET and its 1 hour offset do not.
Abbreviations on the same clock
Frequently asked questions
What does CET stand for?
CET stands for Central European Standard Time. It is 1 hour ahead of UTC, written UTC+1.
What is CET in UTC?
CET is UTC+1. To convert an CET time to UTC, subtract 1 hour.
What is the difference between CET and CEST?
CET is the standard-time form; CEST is what those same zones use during daylight saving time, one hour ahead. A summer date written "CET" is usually a mistake for CEST.
Which time zone should I use instead of CET?
Use an IANA identifier — Europe/Berlin, Europe/Paris and Europe/Rome and 16 more for Central European Standard Time — or state the UTC offset with the date. Abbreviations are not identifiers: they are not unique, they are not registered anywhere, and half of them change with the season. Calendar software resolves this automatically when you pick a city rather than typing letters.