CEST: Central European Summer Time
CEST is Central European Summer Time, +02:00, used in Europe. In code, use Europe/Paris rather than the abbreviation.
Central European Summer Time · Europe
20:36:23
Sunday, 15 November 2026
- abbreviation denotes
- +02:00
- in force right now
- CET (UTC+01:00)
- use in code
- Europe/Paris
- next clock change
- 28 Mar 2027 03:00 → CEST
Right now this zone is on CET, not CEST. They are the same place at different times of year.
Use the IANA name, not the abbreviation
Python
from datetime import datetime
from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo
# right: an IANA zone carries the full history of rule changes
now = datetime.now(ZoneInfo("Europe/Paris"))
print(now.isoformat(), now.tzname())
# wrong: an abbreviation is not resolvable, and a hard-coded offset
# silently rots the next time the rules change
# now = datetime.now(timezone(timedelta(hours=...))) # don'tCEST questions
What does CEST stand for?
CEST is Central European Summer Time, +02:00, used in Europe. The IANA zone to use in code is Europe/Paris.
What time is it in CEST right now?
Central European Summer Time: 20:36 on Sunday (CET).
Which IANA timezone should I use instead of CEST?
Europe/Paris for Central European Summer Time. Date libraries cannot resolve bare abbreviations, and an abbreviation carries no daylight-saving history, so a stored offset silently rots when a government changes the rules.
Why does my computer show CET instead of CEST?
Because Europe/Paris is currently on CET (UTC+01:00), its daylight-saving variant. CEST (+02:00) applies during the other half of the year. Both names refer to the same place, one hour apart.