US and Europe Time Difference: The Weeks When the Gap Changes

Last updated October 12, 2026

Most of continental Europe runs one hour ahead of London, which puts Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Rome six hours ahead of the US East Coast. That number holds for most of the year. For three or four weeks it is five, because Europe and the US move their clocks on different Sundays.

The time difference by city

Europe has three main time zones. Portugal and Ireland use Western European Time, the same clock as the UK. Most of the EU, from Spain to Poland, uses Central European Time (CET, UTC+1, and CEST, UTC+2, in summer). Greece, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states use Eastern European Time, one hour further ahead. The table shows how far each city is ahead of four US cities, calculated from the time zone database for January and July.

Where a cell shows two numbers, the first is January and the second July. Istanbul is the only city in the table with two, because Turkey stays on UTC+3 all year while the US moves its clocks. For London and the rest of the UK, see the UK and US time difference guide.

The weeks when the gap is one hour smaller

US daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. In Europe it starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October. So in spring the US moves ahead first and the gap shrinks until Europe catches up. In autumn Europe falls back first, and the gap is one hour smaller for one week until the US follows.

Every US city that changes its clocks moves with New York, so Chicago is six hours behind Paris in those weeks instead of seven, and Los Angeles eight instead of nine. Phoenix and Honolulu do not change their clocks, so for them the gap to Paris moves only on the European dates.

Best times for a call

• From the East Coast, 9 to 11 a.m. Eastern is 3 to 5 p.m. in Paris or Berlin. A 9:30 or 10 a.m. call is the safest choice. Athens and Helsinki are an hour later, so aim for 9 a.m. Eastern.
• From the Midwest, 8 to 10 a.m. Central is 3 to 5 p.m. in Central Europe. That is a short window, and Athens has only the first hour of it.
• From the West Coast there is no shared office time with continental Europe. A call at 8 a.m. Pacific is 5 p.m. in Paris. Most teams move these calls to early morning in California or ask the European side to stay late once a week.

Lunch is later in some countries. In Spain it often starts around 2 p.m. and can run to 4 p.m., which falls right in the East Coast's morning. Friday afternoons in Europe empty out early, and August is a holiday month in France, Italy and Spain, so a reply can take longer.

Recurring meetings during the short-gap weeks

A repeating calendar event stays fixed in the time zone where it was created. If a team in New York sets a weekly call for 10 a.m. Eastern, it shows as 4 p.m. in Berlin most weeks and 3 p.m. during the short-gap weeks. If the Berlin side created it at 4 p.m., the New York side sees it move to 11 a.m. instead. Calendar apps handle this correctly, but people who go by memory turn up an hour off.

Before the end of October and again in early March, tell the group which side keeps the fixed time. Writing both times in the invitation, such as "10:00 a.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. CET", makes the change easy to spot.

CET, CEST and other abbreviations

In summer Paris and Berlin are on CEST (UTC+2), not CET (UTC+1), and Athens is on EEST. An invitation that says "3 p.m. CET" in July is one hour off if read literally. Many people write "CET" all year, so it is safer to name the city, such as "Paris time", or to give the UTC offset. The time zone abbreviations guide lists the pairs.

Places that do not change their clocks

Iceland keeps UTC+0 all year, so Reykjavik is 5 hours ahead of New York in winter and 4 in summer. Turkey keeps UTC+3, and Belarus and Russia also stay on one offset. For these places the gap to the US moves on the US dates only, in March and November. The Europe time zones guide covers the rest of the region.

To check a date, open the Meeting Planner with Paris, Berlin or Madrid and New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. The daylight saving time guide has the clock change dates for both sides.

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