Western European Time (WET)

What time is it in Lisbon when Paris shows noon?

In January, Lisbon runs one hour behind Paris. On 15 January 2026 at 12:00 CET in Paris, the clock in Lisbon reads 11:00 WET. London also shows 11:00 GMT. Same offset, different zone names.

That gap holds steady in summer, but the offsets shift. On 15 July 2026 at 12:00 CEST in Paris, Lisbon reads 11:00 WEST. London reads 11:00 BST. Lisbon and London stay locked together all year. Lisbon and Paris stay one hour apart.

The rule: WET is UTC+0. WEST is UTC+1. WET and GMT share an offset, and people swap the terms freely, but technically GMT is a zone and WET is a different zone with the same number.

Which nations and territories run on WET/WEST

The places that switch between WET and WEST:

• Portugal (mainland and Madeira)
• Ireland
• The United Kingdom
• The Canary Islands (Spain)
• The Faroe Islands

Clocks go forward to WEST on the last Sunday of March at 01:00 UTC. They go back to WET on the last Sunday of October at 01:00 UTC. That matches the EU DST schedule.

Portugal stands out. It adopted CET from 1966 to 1976 and again from 1992 to 1996. Both times it reverted to WET. The reason was mornings.

Why Portugal stays on Western European Time and not CET

Portugal sits west of London. Solar time aligns it with the UK, not with Madrid. The two CET experiments failed because winter sunrises came too late. Mornings felt like night. Commuters and schoolchildren started the day in darkness. The public backlash sent the country back to WET both times.

For a full list of territories, see the WET countries page.

Does Iceland use Western European Time?

Iceland uses UTC+0 all year. It has not observed daylight saving time since 1968. Geographically it sits near 22°W, which would be UTC-2 solar time. The country chose permanent UTC+0 instead.

In January, when Lisbon is on WET (UTC+0), Reykjavik shows the same time. In July, Lisbon jumps to WEST (UTC+1). Iceland stays put. The gap becomes one hour, with Lisbon ahead.

No clock changes. No summer time. One simple rule for travellers: Iceland matches WET in winter and trails WEST by an hour in summer.

How WET compares to GMT and CET

WET and GMT both sit at UTC+0. Different zones, same offset. When a Portuguese timetable says "GMT" it means WET.

CET is always one hour ahead. CET runs at UTC+1 in winter. CEST runs at UTC+2 in summer. The arithmetic:

• Winter: WET (UTC+0) vs CET (UTC+1). CET leads by one hour.
• Summer: WEST (UTC+1) vs CEST (UTC+2). CEST leads by one hour.

The gap never changes. That is not true for every zone pair, but it is true here.

Scheduling across WET, CET and Iceland

London to Berlin: always one hour. Lisbon to Reykjavik: zero in winter, one in summer (Lisbon ahead).

For business hours, check the European business hours by country guide. For exchange opening times, see the European stock exchange hours guide.

Western European Time offsets at a glance