Perex: Europe is the second-smallest continent in the world. It has five time zones, which determine the local time of various regions and countries.
Sprawling across a landmass of 10180000 km square, Europe is the world’s second-smallest continent. It occupies the westernmost part of the Eurasian region and is bounded by the Arctic and the Atlantic Oceans in the north and west, respectively. Europe spans seven primary time zones, from UTC -1:00 to UTC +5:00), excluding summer offsets. Truth be told, the Europe time zones are incredibly fascinating and there is a wealth of knowledge to uncover. Interested to know more? Read ahead!
Europe Time Zones - An Elaboration
The continent of Europe is divided into the following time zones -
- Azores Time Zone - UTC - 1
- Western European Time Zone or the Greenwich Mean Time or the Irish Time Zone - UTC + 0
- The Central European Time - UTC +1
- The Eastern European Time Zone - UTC +2
- The Kaliningrad Time Zone (UTC+2)
- The time zones of Moscow and further-eastern Europe are UTC +3.
An In-depth Overview of the Different European Time Zones
The time zone in Western Europe
It is the zone whose standard time is similar to Greenwich Mean Time or the Coordinated Universal Time. The Time Zone in Western European does not have an offset time from the UTC, which means that it is zero hours ahead or behind the UTC.
During the winter months, the various regions that follow the Western European Standard include Portugal, the United Kingdom, and its Crown dependencies, such as Ireland, Faroe Islands, Canary Islands, Iceland, etc. Likewise, during the summer months, all the aforementioned countries, barring Iceland, adhere to the Western European Summer Time, which has an offset of UTC+1 from the Greenwich Mean Time.
The Central Time Zone in Europe (CET)
It is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of the Greenwich Mean Time. During the winter months, the CET is followed by countries, such as Albania, Austria, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Norway, Serbia, Slovenia, etc. During summer months, all the aforementioned countries, along with some others, follow the Time Zone in Central Europe but with an offset of UT +2.
- Eastern European Time Zone (EET)
The Eastern European Time Zone is observed by adding two hours to the Universal Time (UTC) coordinated. During the winter months, the EET is followed by countries, such as Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine. Likewise, during the summer months, these nations follow the Eastern European Summer Time with an offset of UTC +3.
Moscow Standard Time Zone (MSK) and the Time Zone in Further-Eastern Europe
The Time Zone in Further-Eastern Europe and the Standard Time Zone in a Moscow are observed by adding 3 hours to the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). During the winter months, Belarus, sections of European Russia, Luhansk, Crimea, and Donetsk in Ukraine observe the Moscow Standard Time (UTC+3) and the Further-Eastern European Standard Time.
Conclusion
So, there we have it, a crisp overview of the Europe time zones.
Summary
There are five Europe time zones that encompass the landmass of the European continent and some parts of Russia.
