What time is it in Latvia?
EET / EEST · Europe/Riga
Back to LatviaNow in Riga
EET UTC+02:00
UTC+02:00
UTC+03:00 in summerEastern European Standard Time
Latvia keeps Eastern European Time, UTC+2, and moves to UTC+3 from the last Sunday in March until the last Sunday in October. In Riga the spring change turns 03:00 into 04:00 and the autumn change turns 04:00 back into 03:00, both at 01:00 UTC. A single zone, Europe/Riga in the time zone database, covers the whole country, on the same offset as Estonia and Lithuania.
Today
Daylight in Riga today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 07:19First light 06:42
- Sunset
- 19:08Last light 19:46
- Day length
- 11 h 49 min−5 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 13:14Sun at 31°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Latvia 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 Latvia is from other places
Neighbours
- BelarusMinskSame time
- EstoniaTallinnSame time
- LithuaniaVilniusSame time
- RussiaMoscowSame time
- SwedenStockholm−1 h
Around the world
- London−2 h
- New York−7 h
- Los Angeles−10 h
- São Paulo−6 h
- Dubai+1 h
- Delhi+2:30 h
- Beijing+5 h
- Tokyo+6 h
- Sydney+7 h
Clock changes
When the clocks change in Latvia
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 |
Until 1926 Latvian clocks ran 1 hour 36 minutes ahead of Greenwich, with summer time only in 1918 and 1919; that year the country moved to UTC+2. The Soviet occupation of 1940 brought UTC+3, and under German occupation in 1942 and 1943 the clocks ran at UTC+1 with summer time at UTC+2. From 1945 to 1980 there was a single offset, UTC+3, all year, and the Soviet summer time introduced on 1 April 1981 added a fourth hour every summer until 1988. Winter time has been UTC+2 again since 1989. The one summer without a change since then was 2000; the clocks have gone forward every spring from 2001.
Latvia would have had to choose between permanent summer and permanent winter time under the directive the European Parliament backed on 26 March 2019. The Council of the European Union had still not approved it by March 2026. At a plenary debate on 23 October 2025 every speaker agreed the seasonal change should end, but none gave a date, so Latvian clocks keep changing in March and October.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in Riga
- Sunrise
- 07:19
- Sunset
- 19:08
- Daylight
- 11 h 49 min
- Change
- −5 min
Longest day of 2026: 20 June, 17 h 53 min.
Computed for 56.95, 24.11 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
- 2026. gada 5. marts
- Week starts
- Monday
- Zone names
- EET / EEST
- Time zone database
- Riga
History
How the clocks in Latvia got here
- 1890
- To 1917.Local mean time, UTC+01:36, before the standard zone.
- 1918
- To 1919.The move from local mean time, UTC+01:36, to UTCundefined.
- 1920
- To 1925.Local mean time, UTC+01:36, before the standard zone.
- 1926
- The move from local mean time, UTC+01:36, to UTC+02:00.
- 1927
- To 1939.UTC+02:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1940
- To 1941.UTC+02:00 in winter, UTC+03:00 in summer time.
- 1942
- Clocks on UTC+01:00, UTC+02:00 at different times of the year.
- 1943
- Clocks on UTC+01:00, UTC+02:00 at different times of the year.
- 1944
- Clocks on UTC+01:00, UTC+02:00, UTC+03:00 at different times of the year.
- 1945
- To 1980.Summer time kept through the winter: UTC+03:00 all year.
- 1981
- To 1988.Clocks on UTC+03:00, UTC+04:00 at different times of the year.
- 1989
- UTC+02:00 in winter, UTC+03:00 in summer time.
- 1990
- To 1999.UTC+02:00 in winter, UTC+03:00 in summer time.
- 2000
- UTC+02:00 all year, no summer time.
- 2001
- To today.UTC+02:00 in winter, UTC+03:00 in summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, Europe/Riga, as the build machine carries it.
Common questions
Questions about the time in Latvia
What time zone is Latvia in?
Eastern European Time, two hours ahead of UTC, from late October to late March, and Eastern European Summer Time, UTC+3, for the rest of the year. There is one zone for the whole country, identified in the time zone database as Europe/Riga, so a clock in Riga shows the time for every town in Latvia.
When do the clocks change in Latvia in 2026?
Summer time began on Sunday 29 March 2026, when clocks in Riga moved from 03:00 to 04:00. It ends on Sunday 25 October, when 04:00 becomes 03:00 again and the night gains an hour. In 2027 the two changes fall on 28 March and 31 October.
Is Riga on the same time as Tallinn, Vilnius and Helsinki?
Yes, all year. Estonia, Lithuania and Finland keep Eastern European Time as Latvia does, at UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 in summer, and all four change on the same Sundays under European Union rules. Travel between the three Baltic capitals crosses no time line at any season.
What is the time difference between Latvia and Russia or Belarus?
It depends on the season. Western Russia, Moscow included, has kept UTC+3 all year since October 2014, and Belarus stayed permanently on its former summer time after 2011. From late March to late October Latvia is level with both. Once Latvian clocks go back in October, the country is an hour behind Moscow and Belarus until spring.
Did Latvia use Moscow time under Soviet rule?
Yes. The occupation of 1940 moved the clocks from UTC+2 to UTC+3, the offset of Moscow Time, and apart from the years of German occupation they stayed there for almost half a century. From 1945 to 1980 the offset never changed; Soviet summer time, reintroduced across the USSR on 1 April 1981, then took Latvia to UTC+4 each summer. Winter time went back to UTC+2 in 1989, a year before the declaration of 4 May 1990 on restoring independence.
Did Latvia keep summer time in 2000?
No. The time zone database shows Latvia on UTC+2 throughout 2000, with no spring change and no autumn one. Summer time returned in 2001 and has run every year since, on the European Union's dates. Before that, 1920 to 1925 and 1927 to 1939 were also years without a seasonal change, as was the Soviet stretch from 1945 to 1980.
Will Latvia stop changing the clocks?
Not while the current European Union rule stands. The European Parliament voted on 26 March 2019 for a directive ending seasonal changes, which would leave each member state to pick summer or winter time for good. It needs the approval of the Council, which had not been given by March 2026. A plenary debate on 23 October 2025 found agreement that the changes should stop, with no date attached.