What time is it in Åland?
EET / EEST · Europe/Mariehamn
Back to ÅlandNow in Mariehamn
EET UTC+02:00
UTC+02:00
UTC+03:00 in summerEastern European Standard Time
Åland reads the same clock as mainland Finland: Eastern European Time, two hours ahead of UTC, with Eastern European Summer Time at UTC+3 from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. The islands have their own entry in the time zone database, Europe/Mariehamn, because they carry a country code of their own, AX, but its offsets are those of Europe/Helsinki. One zone covers the whole archipelago, and it puts Mariehamn an hour ahead of Sweden, which keeps Central European Time.
Today
Daylight in Mariehamn today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 07:37First light 06:56
- Sunset
- 19:24Last light 20:06
- Day length
- 11 h 47 min−5 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 13:31Sun at 28°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Åland and elsewhere
The two rows are the same day, hour for hour. Pick a city, then an hour, and the line between the rows marks the office hours both sides share.
Time difference
How far Åland is from other places
Around the world
- London−2 h
- New York−7 h
- Los Angeles−10 h
- São Paulo−6 h
- MoscowSame time
- Dubai+1 h
- Delhi+2:30 h
- Beijing+5 h
- Tokyo+6 h
- Sydney+7 h
Clock changes
When the clocks change in Åland
Next change
Sunday, 25 October 2026
Clocks go back one hour: at 04:00 it becomes 03:00 EET, UTC+02:00. The night is an hour longer.
| Year | Clocks go forward | Clocks go back |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 29 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 25 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
| 2027 | 28 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 31 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
| 2028 | 26 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 29 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
| 2029 | 25 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 28 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
| 2030 | 31 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 27 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
Summer time came to Åland with Finland's. The first attempt ran from 2 April to 4 October 1942 and was not repeated, because the government found no use in it. It returned in 1981, a year after Sweden, Norway and Denmark reintroduced it, on the same schedule as the other Nordic countries so that their clocks stayed aligned. The change was made at 02:00 in the first two years and at 03:00 from 1983. Since Finland joined the European Union in 1995 the dates have followed EU law.
The clocks in Åland change under the rule Finland is bound to follow as a member of the European Union, Directive 2000/84/EC. The European Parliament voted on 26 March 2019 to end the seasonal change. As of March 2026 the Council of the European Union had not approved the proposal, and a plenary debate in the Parliament on 23 October 2025 named no date, so Åland still moves its clocks twice a year.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in Mariehamn
- Sunrise
- 07:37
- Sunset
- 19:24
- Daylight
- 11 h 47 min
- Change
- −5 min
Longest day of 2026: 20 June, 18 h 55 min.
Computed for 60.10, 19.94 at sea level with the NOAA solar equations, to the nearest minute, taking no account of hills.
Writing the time
- Clock
- 24-hour
- Short date
- 2026-03-05
- Long date
- 5 mars 2026
- Week starts
- Monday
- Zone names
- EET / EEST
- Time zone database
- Mariehamn
History
How the clocks in Åland got here
- 1970
- To 1980.UTC+02:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1981
- To today.UTC+02:00 in winter, UTC+03:00 in summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, Europe/Mariehamn, as the build machine carries it. The database keeps this zone's own history from 1970 only; the years before are told above from the sources.
Common questions
Questions about the time in Åland
What time zone is Åland in?
Eastern European Time, UTC+2, in winter and Eastern European Summer Time, UTC+3, between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. Åland keeps the same offsets as Helsinki. The time zone database files it under Europe/Mariehamn, after the islands' capital, and one zone serves all of them.
Is Åland on Finnish or Swedish time?
Finnish. Åland is part of Finland and keeps Eastern European Time, while Sweden keeps Central European Time, UTC+1. Both change their clocks on the same nights, so Stockholm is an hour behind Mariehamn all year. A traveller from Stockholm to Mariehamn puts the clock forward an hour, and one going on from Mariehamn to Helsinki changes nothing.
When do the clocks change in Åland in 2026?
Clocks went forward on 29 March 2026, from 03:00 to 04:00, and go back on 25 October, from 04:00 to 03:00. In 2027 the dates are 28 March and 31 October. The change happens at 01:00 UTC across the European Union, which is why it falls an hour later on the Mariehamn clock than in Stockholm.
Why does Åland have its own entry in the time zone database?
The database's zone.tab file lists two zones for Finland: Europe/Helsinki for the country and Europe/Mariehamn for Åland. The split follows the country codes, since Åland has its own ISO 3166-1 code, AX, beside FI for Finland in general. Both entries carry the same offsets and the same clock changes, so the two names give one time.
What time did Mariehamn keep before 1921?
Before a standard time existed, each place in Finland followed its own solar time, and when it was 12:00 in Helsinki it was 11:40.02 in Mariehamn. The railways brought Helsinki time, a mean time 1:39:49.2 ahead of Greenwich, and it spread into general use as telecommunications grew. Eastern European Time replaced it at midnight on 30 April 1921, when clocks were advanced 20 minutes and 10.9 seconds. By the sun alone Åland lies west of 22°30' East, where the geographical offset would be UTC+1.
Will Åland stop changing the clocks?
Only if the European Union does. The Commission proposed ending the seasonal change on 12 September 2018 and the Parliament agreed in March 2019, but the Council has not. Finland would then have to choose a side for the whole country, Åland included; a Ministry of Justice survey in 2018, with more than 120,000 answers in its first 24 hours, found a small majority for permanent winter time.