thumb|On the map; countries marked red in Africa use the West African Time zone (WAT) that is identical to the CET, because it is also based on the longitude 15° E

Central European Time (CET) is a standard time observed in Central as well as parts of Western and Southeast Europe, which is one hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00. It covers most of continental Europe and it has been adopted by several African countries where it is known under various other names.

CET is also known as Middle European Time (MET, German: MEZ) and by colloquial names that reference major European cities such as Amsterdam Time, Berlin Time, Brussels Time, Budapest Time, Madrid Time, Paris Time, Stockholm Time, Rome Time, Prague time, Warsaw Time or Romance Standard Time (RST).

The 15th meridian east is the central axis per UTC+01:00 in the world system of time zones.

Currently, all member countries of the European Union observe summer time (daylight saving time), from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October.

Countries within the CET area switch to Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+02:00) for the summer.

The next change to CET will occur on 25 October 2026 (switching from 03:00 CEST to 02:00 CET). <!-- admittedly transient information but this page is heavily read -->

In Africa, UTC+01:00 is called West Africa Time (WAT), where it is used by several countries, year round.

Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia also refer to it as Central European Time.

Usage

Usage in Europe

thumb|The '15th Meridian' monument in [[Stargard, Poland]]

Current usage

As of 2017, Central European Time is currently used in Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Gibraltar (British territory), Hungary, Italy, Kosovo (partially recognised as an independent country), Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (except the Canary Islands), Sweden, Switzerland and Vatican City.

  • 1 October 1891
  • Austro-Hungarian Empire adopts CET. At first railways and post offices, cities such as Prague and Budapest, but not Vienna.
  • Malta uses CET.
  • Vienna (then part of Austro-Hungarian Empire) starts using CET.
  • 1 November 1893
  • Italy starts using CET.
  • 1894
  • Switzerland switches from UTC+00:30 to CET
  • Liechtenstein introduces CET.
  • Denmark adopts CET.
  • 1895
  • Norway adopts CET.
  • 1900
  • Sweden adopts CET.
  • 1904
  • Luxembourg introduces CET, but leaves 1918.
  • 1914
  • Albania adopts CET.
  • 1914&ndash;1918
  • During World War I CET was implemented in all German-occupied territories.
  • 1920
  • Lithuania adopts CET (but subsequently rescinded in 1940) and 1998−1999 again.
  • 1922
  • Poland adopts CET.
  • 1940
  • Under German occupation: was switched to CET.
  • Spain switched to CET. there was a three-year experiment called British Standard Time, when the UK and Ireland experimentally employed British Summer Time (GMT+1) all year round; clocks were put forward in March 1968 and not put back until October 1971.

Central European Time is sometimes referred to as continental time in the UK.

Other countries

Several African countries use UTC+01:00 all year long, where it is known as West Africa Time (WAT), although Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia use the term Central European Time despite being in North Africa. Libya also used CET during the years 1951&ndash;1959, 1982&ndash;1989, 1996&ndash;1997 and 2012&ndash;2013.

For other countries see UTC+01:00 and West Africa Time.

Discrepancies between official CET and geographical CET

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; width:300px; margin-right:0; margin:10px"

|-

! Colour !! Legal time vs local mean time

|-

| style="background: #8f8fbf;" |

| 1 h ± 30 min behind

|-

| style="background: #bfbfbf;" |

| 0 h ± 30 min

|-

| style="background: #bf8f8f;" |

| 1 h ± 30 min ahead

|-

| style="background: #bf6060;" |

| 2 h ± 30 min ahead

|-

| style="background: #bf0000;" |

| 3 h ± 30 min ahead

|}

thumb|300px|European winter

thumb|300px|European summer

The criteria for drawing time zones is based on many factors including: legal, political, economic, and physical or geographic. Consequently, time zones rarely adhere to meridian lines. The CET time zone, were it drawn by purely geographical terms, would consist of exactly the area between meridians 7°30′ E and 22°30′ E. As a result, there are European locales that despite lying in an area with a "physical" or "nominal" UTC+01:00 time, actually use another time zone (UTC+02:00 in particular – there are no "physical" UTC+01:00 areas that employ UTC+00:00). Conversely, there are European areas that have gone for UTC+01:00, even though their "physical" time zone is UTC (typically), UTC−01:00 (westernmost Spain), or UTC+02:00 (e.g. the very easternmost parts of Norway, Sweden, Poland and Serbia). On the other hand, people in Spain still usually have work and meal hours one hour later than France and Germany despite sharing the same time zone. Historically Gibraltar maintained UTC+01:00 all year until the opening of the land border with Spain in 1982, when it followed its neighbour and introduced CEST. The following is a list of such "incongruences":

Areas within UTC+01:00 longitudes using other time zones

These areas are between 7°30′ E and 22°30′ E ("physical" UTC+1)

Areas using UTC+02:00

  • The westernmost part of Greece, including the cities of Patras, Ioannina and the island of Corfu
  • The westernmost parts of the Bulgarian provinces of Vidin and Kyustendil
  • The westernmost part of Romania, including most of the area of the counties of Caraș-Severin, Timiș (capital Timișoara), Arad, and Bihor, as well as the westernmost tips of the counties of Mehedinți and Satu Mare
  • The westernmost tip of Ukraine, near the border with Hungary and Slovakia, at the Ukrainian Transcarpathian Oblast (Zakarpattia Oblast), essentially comprising the city of Uzhhorod and its environs. (Although CET is used as local, non-official time in Transcarpathia).
  • Western Lithuania, including the cities of Klaipėda, Tauragė, and Telšiai
  • Western Latvia, including the cities of Liepāja and Ventspils
  • The westernmost parts of the Estonian islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, including the capital of the Saare County, Kuressaare
  • The southwestern coast of Finland, including the cities of Turku, Pori, and Vaasa; also the Åland islands (of Finnish jurisdiction) – the Åland islands are the westernmost locale applying EET in the whole of Europe
  • The northwesternmost part of Finland, including Kilpisjärvi and Kaaresuvanto.
  • The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast, excluding however its easternmost slice (the city of Nesterov is east of 22°30′ E, but that of Krasnoznamensk is not)

Areas outside UTC+01:00 longitudes using UTC+01:00 time

These areas are either west of 7°30′ E or east of 22°30′ E (outside nominal UTC+01:00)