Central European Time

Time in Europe:
light blue Western European Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC)
blue Western European Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC)
Western European Summer Time (UTC+1)
red Central European Time (UTC+1)
Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)
yellow Eastern European Time / Kaliningrad Time (UTC+2)
golden Eastern European Time (UTC+2)
Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)
light green Further-eastern European Time (UTC+3)
Light colours indicate where standard time is observed all year; dark colours indicate where a summer time is observed.
Time in Africa
    UTC−01:00 Cape Verde Time
    UTC±00:00 Greenwich Mean Time
    UTC±00:00
UTC+01:00		 Western European Time
Western European Summer Time
    UTC+01:00 West Africa Time /
Central European Time
    UTC+01:00
UTC+02:00		 West Africa Time
West Africa Summer Time
    UTC+02:00 Central Africa Time /
South African Standard Time /
Eastern European Time
    UTC+03:00 East Africa Time
    UTC+04:00 Mauritius Time / Seychelles Time
Light colors indicate where standard time is observed all year; dark colors indicate where daylight savings is observed.

Note: The islands of Cape Verde are to the west of the African mainland.

Central European Time (CET), used in most parts of the European Union and a few North African countries, is a standard time which is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00. The same standard time, UTC+01:00, is also known as Middle European Time (MET, German: MEZ) and under other names like Berlin Time, Romance Standard Time, Paris Time or Rome Time.[1]

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

As of 2011, all member states of the European Union observe summer time; those that use CET during the winter use Central European Summer Time (CEST) (or: UTC+02:00, daylight saving time) in summer (from last Sunday of March to last Sunday of October).

A number of African countries use UTC+01:00 all year long, where it is called West Africa Time (WAT), although Algeria and Tunisia also use the term Central European Time.

Usage

Usage in Europe

After World War II Monaco, Spain, Andorra and Gibraltar implemented CET.

Portugal used CET in the years 1966–1976 and 1992–1996.

United Kingdom

The time around the world is based on Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) which is roughly synonymous with Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). From late March to late October, clocks in the United Kingdom are put forward by one hour for British Summer Time (BST). Since 1997, most of the European Union aligned with the British standards for BST. Central European Time is thus always one hour ahead of British time.

In 1968 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 called West Africa Time (WAT), although Algeria and Tunisia also use the term Central European Time, despite being located in North Africa.

Between 2005 and 2008, Tunisia observed daylight saving time. Libya also used CET during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997 and 2012–2013.

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

Discrepancies between official CET and geographical CET

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
European winter
European summer

Legal, political and economic, as well as physical or geographical criteria are used in the drawing of time zones so official 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" UTC+1 time, actually use another time zone (UTC+2 in particular – there are no "physical" UTC+1 areas that employ UTC). Conversely, there are European areas that have gone for UTC+1, even though their "physical" time zone is UTC (typically), UTC−1 (westernmost Spain), or UTC+2 (e.g. the very easternmost parts of Norway, Sweden, Poland and Serbia). On the other hand, the people in Spain still have all work and meal hours one hour later than France and Germany even if they have the same time zone. Following is a list of such "incongruences":

Historically Gibraltar maintained UTC+1 all year until the opening of the land frontier with Spain in 1982 when it followed its neighbour and introduced CEST.

Areas located within UTC+1 longitudes using other time zones

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

Areas using UTC+2

Areas located outside UTC+1 longitudes using UTC+1 time

These areas are located west of 7°30′ E or east of 22°30′ E (outside "physical" UTC+1)

Areas between 22°30′ W and 7°30′ W ("physical" UTC−1)

Areas between 7°30′ W and 7°30′ E ("physical" UTC)

Areas between 22°30′ E and 37°30' E ("physical" UTC+2)

Map of Petsamo area in northern Finland/Soviet Union/Russia. The green area is the Finnish part of the Rybachi peninsula (Kalastajasaarento) which was ceded to the Soviet Union after the Winter War. The Red area is the Jäniskoski-Niskakoski area ceded to the USSR in 1947.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Romance Standard Time
  2. ↑ Bartky, Ian R. (2007). One Time Fits All: The Campaigns for Global Uniformity. Stanford University Press. pp. 126–7. ISBN 0804756422. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Bartky, Ian R. (2007). One Time Fits All: The Campaigns for Global Uniformity. Stanford University Press. pp. 130, 134. ISBN 0804756422. Retrieved 18 August 2015.

External links

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