Current time in France
13:00:00CEST
Thursday 1 October 2026
France is 1 hour ahead of the UK right now.
In the UK it is 12:00 BST. Your device: 12:00 (Same as UK).
France time zone
Mainland France and Corsica use Central European Time (CET, UTC+1) in winter and Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2) in summer. The IANA zone is Europe/Paris.
Paris is only just east of Greenwich, and France kept Paris Mean Time until 1911, then GMT. It moved to Central European Time under German occupation in 1940 and has stayed there since the end of the war. That is why France is an hour ahead of the UK although the two capitals are on almost the same longitude.
Time difference between the UK and France
Mainland France is 1 hour ahead of the UK all year. Both sides follow the same rule. EU Directive 2000/84/EC starts summer time at 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and ends it at 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday of October, and the UK's Summer Time Order 2002 uses the same instants. The clocks change at exactly the same moment, so the gap never moves.
| Period | UK | Mainland France |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January to 29 March 2026 | GMT (UTC+0) | CET (UTC+1): 1 hour ahead |
| 29 March to 25 October 2026 | BST (UTC+1) | CEST (UTC+2): 1 hour ahead |
| 25 October 2026 to 28 March 2027 | GMT (UTC+0) | CET (UTC+1): 1 hour ahead |
| 28 March to 31 October 2027 | BST (UTC+1) | CEST (UTC+2): 1 hour ahead |
| 31 October 2027 to 26 March 2028 | GMT (UTC+0) | CET (UTC+1): 1 hour ahead |
Best times to call France from the UK
| UK time | France | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | 09:00 | Start of the French working day |
| 11:00 | 12:00 | Late morning, before lunch |
| 16:00 | 17:00 | Late afternoon, before offices close |
| 19:00 | 20:00 | Evening calls to friends |
With only an hour between them, UK and French working days overlap almost completely. Lunch in France is often a full break, so a call at 12 noon UK time can go unanswered.
Converting the time
Eurostar timetables show local time at each end. A train that leaves London at 9am and takes about 2 hours 20 minutes reaches Paris at about 12:20pm French time. On the way back you gain the hour: leave Paris at 1pm and you arrive in London at about 2:20pm. Use the time zone converter for other places, or the meeting planner for calls across several countries.
Overseas France
France's overseas departments and territories keep their own time zones. Of those below, only Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon changes its clocks, on North American dates.
| Place | Local time | Zone | Difference from UK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guadeloupe | 07:00 | GMT-4 | −5 h |
| Martinique | 07:00 | GMT-4 | −5 h |
| French Guiana | 08:00 | GMT-3 | −4 h |
| Réunion | 15:00 | GMT+4 | +3 h |
| Mayotte | 14:00 | GMT+3 | +2 h |
| Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon | 09:00 | GMT-2 | −3 h |
| Tahiti, French Polynesia | 01:00 | GMT-10 | −11 h |
| New Caledonia | 22:00 | GMT+11 | +10 h |
Related pages
- World clockLive times in 25 cities and their gap from the UK.
- Time in SpainMainland CET, Canary Islands on UK time.
- Time in GermanyCET and CEST, one hour ahead all year.
- GMT time nowThe UK's winter time, and the base for every offset on this page.
- When the UK clocks changeExact dates for 2026, 2027 and 2028.
Frequently asked questions
Is France always 1 hour ahead of the UK?
Mainland France is. France and the UK change their clocks at the same moment, so Paris stays 1 hour ahead all year.
What time zone is France in?
Mainland France uses Central European Time (CET, UTC+1) in winter and Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2) in summer.
When do the clocks change in France?
At the same moment as in the UK: on 25 October 2026 and 31 October 2027 they go back, and on 28 March 2027 they go forward.
What time is it in Réunion or Guadeloupe?
Réunion is on UTC+4 and Guadeloupe on UTC−4, all year. Neither changes its clocks.