What time is it in Netherlands?
CET / CEST · Europe/Amsterdam
Back to NetherlandsNow in Amsterdam
CET UTC+01:00
UTC+01:00
UTC+02:00 in summerCentral European Standard Time
The Netherlands keeps Central European Time, UTC+1, and moves to Central European Summer Time, UTC+2, from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. Its territory runs from 3°21′ to 7°13′ east, far nearer the Greenwich meridian than the 15th meridian on which CET is based, and the two ends of the country are about 16 minutes apart by the sun. The European part has a single zone, Europe/Amsterdam; Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba in the Caribbean keep Atlantic Standard Time, four hours behind UTC, all year.
Today
Daylight in Amsterdam today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 07:35First light 07:01
- Sunset
- 19:26Last light 20:00
- Day length
- 11 h 51 min−4 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 13:31Sun at 36°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Netherlands 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 Netherlands is from other places
Neighbours
- BelgiumBrusselsSame time
- GermanyBerlinSame time
- FranceParisSame time
- VenezuelaCaracas−6 h
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 Netherlands
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 |
Dutch clocks first went forward on 1 May 1916, at midnight, and back on 1 October; a second trial ran in 1917, and a law of 23 March 1918 made the arrangement permanent. Until 1925 the season opened on the first Monday in April, and from 1926 to 1939 on 15 May, pushed back a week whenever that date was Whitsun. All of this was summer time on Amsterdam Time, not on Greenwich or Central European Time. The German occupation of 1940 imposed German summer time, kept all year until 1942 and then switched with the German dates. The practice was dropped after the war, came back in 1977. Since 1981 European directives have set the dates, and in 1996 the end moved from September to October.
The European Parliament voted on 26 March 2019 for a directive ending the twice-yearly clock change. In the national discussions the Netherlands leaned towards permanent winter time, which would keep it on UTC+1 all year, as Denmark did, while France and Germany favoured permanent summer time. The Council of the European Union had not approved the directive by March 2026, so Dutch clocks still change.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in Amsterdam
- Sunrise
- 07:35
- Sunset
- 19:26
- Daylight
- 11 h 51 min
- Change
- −4 min
Longest day of 2026: 21 June, 16 h 49 min.
Computed for 52.37, 4.88 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
- 05-03-2026
- Long date
- 5 maart 2026
- Week starts
- Monday
- Zone names
- CET / CEST
- Time zone database
- Amsterdam
History
How the clocks in Netherlands got here
- 1970
- To 1976.UTC+01:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1977
- To today.UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, Europe/Amsterdam, 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 Netherlands
What time zone is the Netherlands in?
Central European Time, UTC+1, known in Dutch as Midden-Europese Tijd, and Central European Summer Time, UTC+2, from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. Everywhere in the European Netherlands keeps the same clock, listed as Europe/Amsterdam in the time zone database. The Caribbean islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba are the exception, on Atlantic Standard Time.
When do the clocks change in the Netherlands in 2026?
Summer time started on Sunday 29 March 2026, when 02:00 became 03:00, and it ends on Sunday 25 October, when 03:00 turns back to 02:00. The 2027 dates are 28 March and 31 October. Both changes happen at 01:00 UTC, the same instant across the European Union, which is why the Dutch switch lands at 02:00 local time in spring.
What was Amsterdam Time?
The mean solar time of Amsterdam, 19 minutes and 32 seconds ahead of Greenwich. The Telegraph Act of 1852 first required telegraph offices to keep it, a decree of 1866 put every railway station and timetable on it, and from 1 May 1909 it was the legal time for the whole country. On 1 July 1937 it was rounded to exactly 20 minutes ahead of Greenwich and renamed Dutch Time, Nederlandse Tijd, which lasted until the German occupation in 1940.
Why does the Netherlands use Central European Time and not Greenwich time?
Because of 1940. German forces occupied the country that year and replaced Dutch Time with Berlin time, UTC+1, and the Netherlands has stayed on that offset ever since. Geography points the other way: the whole country lies nearer the Greenwich meridian than the 15th meridian east. Greenwich time was not new either. A decree of 1892 had put the railways on it while the telegraph offices kept Central European Time, for the sake of shipping to the rest of the continent.
What time is it on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba?
Atlantic Standard Time, four hours behind UTC, with no summer time. The islands form the Caribbean Netherlands and appear in the time zone database under America/Kralendijk, named after the main town on Bonaire. They are five hours behind Amsterdam in winter and six hours behind in summer, when only the European part moves its clocks.
Would the Netherlands keep summer or winter time if the clock change ended?
Winter time, on the positions summarised when the European Union discussed its 2019 proposal: the Netherlands leaned towards staying on UTC+1 all year, with Denmark, rather than the permanent summer time preferred by France and Germany. No choice has had to be made, because the Council of the European Union had still not approved the proposal by March 2026. A plenary debate in the European Parliament on 23 October 2025 found agreement that the change should stop, but set no date.
Is the Netherlands an hour ahead of London?
Yes, all year. The United Kingdom moves its clocks on the same Sundays in March and October, at the same instant, so a meeting at 10:00 in Amsterdam is at 09:00 in London whatever the season. The hour dates from the German occupation of 1940. Half a century earlier, from 1892, the Dutch railways had run on Greenwich time itself.