What time is it in Czechia?
CET / CEST · Europe/Prague
Back to CzechiaNow in Prague
CET UTC+01:00
UTC+01:00
UTC+02:00 in summerCentral European Standard Time
Czechia runs on one zone, Europe/Prague: Central European Time, UTC+1, which Czech calls středoevropský čas (SEČ), and Central European Summer Time, UTC+2, středoevropský letní čas (SELČ). Summer time begins at 02:00 on the last Sunday in March and ends at 03:00 on the last Sunday in October.
Today
Daylight in Prague today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 06:57First light 06:24
- Sunset
- 18:49Last light 19:21
- Day length
- 11 h 52 min−4 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 12:53Sun at 38°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Czechia 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 Czechia is from other places
Neighbours
- AustriaViennaSame time
- GermanyBerlinSame time
- PolandWarsawSame time
- SlovakiaBratislavaSame time
Around the world
- London−1 h
- New York−6 h
- Los Angeles−9 h
- São Paulo−5 h
- Moscow+1 h
- Dubai+2 h
- Delhi+3:30 h
- Beijing+6 h
- Tokyo+7 h
- Sydney+8 h
Clock changes
When the clocks change in Czechia
Next change
Sunday, 25 October 2026
Clocks go back one hour: at 03:00 it becomes 02:00 CET, UTC+01:00. The night is an hour longer.
| Year | Clocks go forward | Clocks go back |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 29 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 25 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2027 | 28 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 31 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2028 | 26 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 29 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2029 | 25 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 28 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2030 | 31 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 27 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
The Kingdom of Bohemia first moved its clocks for three seasons during the First World War, from 1916 to 1918, as part of Austria-Hungary. Summer time came back in 1940 under the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and through the winters of 1940/1941 and 1941/1942 it was never switched off. Czechoslovakia kept it from 1945 to 1949, and in the winter of 1946/1947, from 1 December to 23 February, went the other way: a winter time that put the clocks at UTC+0, an hour behind Central European Time. After a gap from 1950 to 1978, Czechoslovakia reintroduced summer time in 1979, and the Czech Republic kept it after the federation dissolved in 1993.
The European Parliament voted on 26 March 2019 to end seasonal clock changes, leaving each member state to settle on summer or winter time for good. The directive also needs the Council of the European Union, which had still not approved it by March 2026. In a plenary debate on 23 October 2025 the speakers agreed that the changes should stop, but set no date.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in Prague
- Sunrise
- 06:57
- Sunset
- 18:49
- Daylight
- 11 h 52 min
- Change
- −4 min
Longest day of 2026: 18 June, 16 h 23 min.
Computed for 50.09, 14.42 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
- 05.03.26
- Long date
- 5. března 2026
- Week starts
- Monday
- Zone names
- CET / CEST
- Time zone database
- Prague
History
How the clocks in Czechia got here
- 1890
- Local mean time, UTC+00:57, before the standard zone.
- 1891
- The move from local mean time, UTC+00:57, to UTC+01:00.
- 1892
- To 1915.UTC+01:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1916
- To 1918.UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1919
- To 1939.UTC+01:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1940
- UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1941
- Summer time kept through the winter: UTC+02:00 all year.
- 1942
- UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1943
- To 1945.UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1946
- To 1947.Clocks on UTC+00:00, UTC+01:00, UTC+02:00 at different times of the year.
- 1948
- To 1949.UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1950
- To 1978.UTC+01:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1979
- To today.UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, Europe/Prague, as the build machine carries it.
Common questions
Questions about the time in Czechia
What time zone is Czechia in?
Central European Time, UTC+1, in winter and Central European Summer Time, UTC+2, in summer. Czech has its own abbreviations for the pair: SEČ for středoevropský čas and SELČ for středoevropský letní čas. There is a single zone for the whole country, listed in the time zone database as Europe/Prague.
When do the clocks change in Czechia in 2026?
The spring change was on 29 March 2026, when 02:00 became 03:00. The autumn change is on 25 October 2026: at 03:00 SELČ the clocks go back to 02:00 SEČ, and the night has an extra hour. The 2027 changes fall on 28 March and 31 October.
What do SEČ and SELČ mean on Czech clocks and timetables?
They are the Czech initials for the two halves of the year. SEČ, středoevropský čas, is Central European Time at UTC+1, kept from the last Sunday in October. SELČ, středoevropský letní čas, is Central European Summer Time at UTC+2, kept from the last Sunday in March. Noon SELČ is 10:00 UTC, while noon SEČ is 11:00 UTC.
Did Czechoslovakia ever set its clocks behind Central European Time?
Once. In the winter of 1946/1947, from 1 December to 23 February, Czechoslovakia kept a winter time that the time zone database records as UTC+0, an hour behind the usual CET. It fell inside a run of post-war summer time, used from 1945 to 1949, so across 1946 and 1947 the clocks ran at three offsets: UTC+0, UTC+1 and UTC+2.
When did the Czech lands first use summer time?
During the First World War. The Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of Austria-Hungary, kept summer time in 1916, 1917 and 1918. It returned in 1940 under the Protectorate, when for two winters running the clocks stayed an hour ahead. Czechoslovakia used it again from 1945 to 1949, dropped it until 1979, and has changed the clocks every year since then.
Will Czechia stop changing the clocks?
Not while the EU directive is stuck. The European Parliament approved ending the seasonal change on 26 March 2019, but the Council of the European Union had not approved it by March 2026, and a parliamentary debate on 23 October 2025 produced no date. Of the neighbours, Germany and Poland said they favoured permanent summer time, UTC+2, while no preference is recorded for Czechia.
Is Czechia on the same time as Germany, Poland, Austria and Slovakia?
Yes. All four neighbours keep UTC+1 in winter and UTC+2 in summer, and as members of the European Union they change their clocks on the same Sundays, at 01:00 UTC. The time in Prague is the time in Berlin, Warsaw, Vienna and Bratislava all year round.