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
02:26:05
Thursday, 13 August 2026
- abbreviation denotes
- +02:00
- in force right now
- CEST (UTC+02:00) · DST
- use in code
- Europe/Paris
- next clock change
- 25 Oct 2026 02:00 → CET
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: 02:26 on Thursday (CEST).
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.