UTC time
What UTC is
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is UTC+0, the world's reference time, used by aviation, computing and science. UTC never changes for daylight saving. For everyday purposes it is the same as GMT.
Offsets of major time zones
| Time zone | January | July |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Time (New York) | UTC−5 EST | UTC−4 EDT |
| Central Time (Chicago) | UTC−6 CST | UTC−5 CDT |
| Pacific Time (Los Angeles) | UTC−8 PST | UTC−7 PDT |
| UK time (London) | UTC+0 GMT | UTC+1 BST |
| Central European Time (Paris) | UTC+1 CET | UTC+2 CEST |
| India Standard Time (India) | UTC+5:30 IST | UTC+5:30 IST |
| Singapore Time (Singapore) | UTC+8 SGT | UTC+8 SGT |
| Japan Standard Time (Tokyo) | UTC+9 JST | UTC+9 JST |
| Australian Eastern Time (Sydney) | UTC+11 AEDT | UTC+10 AEST |
Southern-hemisphere places such as Sydney use daylight saving in January, not July.
Handy for
- Reading server logs, API timestamps and error reports
- Scheduling releases and maintenance windows for a global audience
- Aviation, shipping and weather times ("Zulu" time)
- Writing cron schedules and database times
Questions
Is UTC the same as GMT?
For everyday purposes, yes: both are UTC+0 and neither changes for daylight saving. UTC is the precise atomic-clock standard; GMT is the older name and also the UK's winter time.
Does UTC change for daylight saving?
No. UTC is the same all year. Local time zones move against it when they change their clocks.
What does UTC+1 or UTC−5 mean?
It is a time zone's offset from UTC: UTC+1 is an hour ahead of UTC, UTC−5 is five hours behind.
More time zone pages
Or open the full Time Zones meeting planner and world clock.