Current time in Paris

Central European Time, shared with most of the continent

Paris uses Central European Time (CET, UTC+1) in winter and Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2) in summer. Berlin, Madrid, Rome, Amsterdam and Brussels keep the same clock, and London is always one hour behind. France itself covers far more ground: counting its overseas departments and territories, from French Polynesia to New Caledonia, it spans twelve time zones, more than any other country.

Summer time came back with the oil crisis

Clocks go forward at 02:00 on the last Sunday of March and back at 03:00 on the last Sunday of October, on the same dates as the rest of the European Union. France reintroduced summer time in 1976 to save energy after the oil shock. In a 2019 public consultation organised by the National Assembly, more than four in five participants wanted the changes to stop, but the European proposal to end them has stalled.

Greenwich time, without saying its name

Paris long defended its own meridian, which runs through the Paris Observatory, and France abstained when Greenwich was chosen in 1884. When the country finally aligned its clocks in 1911, the law avoided the word Greenwich and defined legal time as Paris mean time delayed by nine minutes and twenty-one seconds. Paris moved one hour ahead of Greenwich under German occupation in 1940 and has stayed on Central European Time ever since.

Paris: time zone at a glance

Time zone

Europe/Paris

Standard time

UTC+1

Daylight saving time

UTC+2

Clock changes in 2026

Sunday, March 29, 2026: forward 1 hour

Sunday, October 25, 2026: back 1 hour

Clock changes in 2027

Sunday, March 28, 2027: forward 1 hour

Sunday, October 31, 2027: back 1 hour

Dates reflect the rules in force when this page was last updated. Governments can change them at short notice.

Plan a meeting in Paris

Use the actual meeting date. Seasonal clock changes can alter the time difference.

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