Czechia time now, live flip clock
The Czech Republic keeps one time, Central European Time, CET, UTC+1, and each summer moves to CEST, UTC+2. On the flip clock above, the digits turn over in Prague time.
Time zone in Czechia
A single zone, filed under Prague in the time zone database, covers every Czech town. The database lists Slovakia under that same Prague zone, so Slovak clocks match Czech ones in every season. Berlin, Vienna and Warsaw keep the same time as well.
- CET, UTC+1
- CEST, UTC+2
- Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Pilsen
When the clocks change in Czechia
Clocks in Czechia change twice a year.
Sunday 25 October 2026
3:00 AMto2:00 AM
Sunday 28 March 2027
2:00 AMto3:00 AM
How many hours ahead or behind Prague
On 24 October 2026, London is 1 hour behind Prague.
| City | Difference from Prague |
|---|---|
| London | 1 hour behind |
| New York | 6 hours behind |
| Los Angeles | 9 hours behind |
| Kyiv | 1 hour ahead |
| Istanbul | 1 hour ahead |
| Dubai | 2 hours ahead |
| Kolkata | 3 hours 30 minutes ahead |
| Tokyo | 7 hours ahead |
| Your time zone | Detected after this page loads |
The law and the lab behind Czech time
- The post-war summer-time act
- No. 54
- Czech summer time rests on Act No. 54, the summer-time act, which Czechoslovakia passed after the Second World War. It lets the government bring in summer time by regulation, as a departure from Central European Time. The act also lets the government set when summer time starts and ends. The newest of those regulations cites the act as its legal basis.
- Dates set five years ahead
- 5 years
- Two government regulations each set five years of clock-change dates, back to back. The government approved the second on the labour minister's proposal. The ministry says it fulfils an obligation under the EU directive in force. Czech clocks are set to keep changing at least until the second one runs out.
- A railway meeting in Brussels
- Brussels
- The government's bill for the act came with an explanatory memorandum. It cites a meeting held in Brussels a few months after the war, on restarting Europe's rail links. There, the countries taking part resolved in principle to change their clocks at the same time.
- Prague's clocks before the EU rules
- 1 h
- Prague kept its own mean solar time until late in the nineteenth century, the time zone database records. In the first post-war years, summer time ended each October. It also records a winter when clocks ran an hour behind Central European Time. After those post-war summers, the database shows none until a Czechoslovak government regulation brought summer time back for two years. From then on, the database files Czech clocks under its EU rules.
- The national time scale, UTC(TP)
- ÚFE
- ÚFE, the Czech Academy of Sciences' Institute of Photonics and Electronics, generates the national time scale, UTC(TP). The work sits in its Laboratory of the National Time and Frequency Standard. The lab also helps generate UTC itself, in cooperation with the BIPM. It serves UTC(TP) over the internet through the Network Time Protocol.
Questions about time in Czechia
What time zone is the Czech Republic in?
The Czech Republic sits in Central European Time, CET, UTC+1, from late October until late March. For the rest of the year its clocks read CEST, UTC+2, Central European Summer Time.
When do Czech clocks go forward and back?
The spring change falls on the last Sunday in March, and the autumn one on the last Sunday in October. Both happen in the early hours, at one instant across the EU. In the Czech Republic a government regulation, made under the summer-time act, sets the exact dates for each year.
Will the Czech Republic stop changing its clocks?
Not under current plans. The government's newest regulation keeps the twice-yearly change for five years, starting the year after its approval. The European Commission proposed ending seasonal changes across the EU, but that remains a proposal. The procedure file shows it awaiting the Council's first-reading position.
What is the time difference between Prague and London?
Prague is 1 hour ahead of London, summer and winter alike. Britain puts its clocks forward and back in step with Czech ones. Clocks in Dublin and Lisbon match London's, so both cities also sit one hour behind Prague.
What is the time difference between the Czech Republic and the US?
Prague is 6 hours ahead of New York and 9 hours ahead of Los Angeles for most of the year. American clocks go forward in March, before Czech ones, and go back in early November, after them. Until the other side catches up, each gap is an hour smaller.
Time zone names for developers
| IANA zone | Standard time | Daylight saving time |
|---|---|---|
| Europe/Prague | CET, UTC+1 | Yes |
Sources
We checked each fact on this page against these sources on 20 October 2026. Times, offsets and clock changes come from the time zone database.