Europe · Central Europe · Sovereign state
Current time in Poland
A single time zone at UTC+02:00. Currently observing daylight saving time.
Friday, June 5, 2026
About Poland's time
A single time zone.
Poland uses a single time zone, Europe/Warsaw, switching between CET (UTC+1) in winter and CEST (UTC+2) in summer. Despite spanning enough longitude for two zones, it keeps the whole country on the same clock.
Next clock change
2026 Sunday · clocks fall back
Clocks fall back by one hour · in 5 months.
Daylight saving schedule
Major cities
Cities of Poland.
History
How Poland keeps time.
Poland first adopted standard time in 1915 during World War I while under Austro-Hungarian and German occupation, initially using Central European Time. During the interwar period of independence, Warsaw Time at UTC+1 became standard. World War II brought chaos—Nazi-occupied areas were forced onto German Summer Time, while the General Government ran on CET.
After liberation in 1944–45, Poland returned to CET under Soviet influence. Like other Eastern Bloc countries, Poland adopted daylight saving time in 1977, aligning its DST schedule with Western European practices for convenience in trade and communications.
Since regaining full sovereignty, Poland has followed EU-wide EU-wide daylight saving rules. In 2019 the European Parliament voted to end mandatory DST, but Poland—like other member states—has not yet legislated a permanent choice between CET and CEST.
Did you know?
Things about Poland's time.
Poland’s single time zone covers about 8° of longitude (from roughly 14°E to 24°E), so solar noon can occur more than 30 minutes earlier in the east compared to the west. In cities like Białystok, the sun is already high while Warsaw residents are still finishing breakfast.
Because Poland sits comfortably within the UTC+1 band, clock time matches solar time quite closely in central and western regions—unlike, say, Spain or western France, where solar noon is famously late. Poles’ daily rhythms (work, meals, TV) are largely in sync with the sun.
Poland keeps in step with most of central Europe, making calls to Germany, the Czech Republic, or Austria straightforward. Remote workers in Poland find it easy to overlap core business hours with offices from Paris to Berlin.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Poland's time zone, daylight saving rules, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- Does Poland observe daylight saving time?
- Yes. Poland follows the EU schedule: clocks go forward one hour on the last Sunday in March (to CEST, UTC+2) and fall back on the last Sunday in October (to CET, UTC+1).
- How many time zones does Poland have?
- Poland has a single time zone, Europe/Warsaw (Central European Time). The entire country, from Gdańsk on the Baltic coast to Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains, runs on the same clock.
- What is the time difference between Poland and London?
- Poland is typically 1 hour ahead of London (UTC+1 vs. UTC+0) in winter and 2 hours ahead during summer when the UK is on BST and Poland is on CEST.
- Is Poland in the same time zone as Germany?
- Yes. Poland and Germany share the same time zone (CET/CEST), so there is no time difference between Warsaw and Berlin at any point in the year.
- How does Poland’s time zone affect travel within Europe?
- Poland is conveniently in sync with major hubs like Berlin, Amsterdam, and Stockholm, making scheduling flights, trains, or video calls across central and eastern Europe simple.
- Will Poland stop changing clocks?
- The EU voted in 2019 to let member states choose a permanent summer or winter time, but Poland has not yet decided which it would pick, so biannual clock changes continue for now.
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