CET — Central European Time
CET is Central European Time, +01:00, used in Europe. In code, use Europe/Paris rather than the abbreviation.
Central European Time · Europe
02:15:44
Thursday, 13 August 2026
- abbreviation denotes
- +01:00
- in force right now
- CEST (UTC+02:00) · DST
- use in code
- Europe/Paris
- also valid
- Europe/Berlin, Europe/Madrid, Europe/Rome
- next clock change
- 25 Oct 2026 02:00 → CET
Right now this zone is on CEST, not CET —
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'tCET questions
What does CET stand for?
CET is Central European Time, +01:00, used in Europe. The IANA zone to use in code is Europe/Paris.
What time is it in CET right now?
Central European Time: 02:15 on Thursday (CEST).
Which IANA timezone should I use instead of CET?
Europe/Paris for Central European 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 CEST instead of CET?
Because Europe/Paris is currently on CEST (UTC+02:00), its daylight-saving variant. CET (+01:00) applies during the other half of the year. Both names refer to the same place, one hour apart.