CEST (Central European Summer Time) is a time zone with a UTC offset of +02:00, meaning it is 2 hours ahead of UTC. The IANA timezone database identifies it as Europe/Paris. Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+02:00) (sometimes called Central European Daylight Time) is the name for a time zone. It is a daylight saving time. [1]. Some of the countries that have Central European Time shift their clocks forward one hour, during the summer months and shift it one hour backwards during winter months. [2] Exact time now, time zone, time difference, sunrise/sunset time and key facts for Central European Summer Time (CEST). Since 1996, European Summer Time has been observed between 01:00 UTC (02:00 CET and 03:00 CEST) on the last Sunday of March, and 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday of October; previously the rules were not uniform across the European Union. Central European Time (CET) is the standard time zone used by many countries in Europe and parts of northern Africa. Major countries using CET include Germany, France, Italy, Spain (mainland), Poland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, and several others. CET remains at UTC+1 during the standard time period, usually from late October to late March. Central European Summer Time (CEST) is the daylight saving time observed in most of continental Europe during the summer months. It is 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC+02:00). CEST is the summer counterpart of Central European Time (CET, UTC+01:00), which is used in winter. Central European Summer Time (CEST) is 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This time zone is in use during Daylight Saving Time in: Europe, Antarctica. Central European Time (CET) and Central European Summer Time (CEST) are the two time zones used across most of Europe. CET (UTC+1) is observed during winter, while CEST (UTC+2) is used in summer. Check exact current time and discover the key facts about Central European Summer Time. Quickly convert Central European Summer Time (CEST) to Eastern Standard Time (EST) with this easy-to-use, modern time zone converter.