Universal Time Standard
Current UTC Time Now
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the global civil time standard kept by ultra-precise atomic clocks. It never adjusts for daylight saving time.
Live Coordinated Universal Time (Atomic Clock)
5:17 PM
Friday, November 6, 2026 (UTC+00:00 / Zulu Time)
World Time Offsets
UTC to Major World Time Zones
See how Coordinated Universal Time translates into active local times across the globe right now.
| Time Zone | Current Time | UTC Offset |
|---|---|---|
| EST / EDT New York (Eastern Time) | 12:17 PM | UTC-5 |
| CST / CDT Chicago (Central Time) | 11:17 AM | UTC-6 |
| PST / PDT Los Angeles (Pacific Time) | 9:17 AM | UTC-8 |
| GMT / BST London (Greenwich Mean Time) | 5:17 PM | UTC+0 |
| CET / CEST Paris / Berlin (Central European Time) | 6:17 PM | UTC+1 |
| IST New Delhi / Mumbai (India Standard Time) | 10:47 PM | UTC+5:30 |
| JST Tokyo (Japan Standard Time) | 2:17 AM | UTC+9 |
| AEST / AEDT Sydney (Australian Eastern Time) | 4:17 AM | UTC+11 |
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About UTC
What is the difference between UTC and GMT?
UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is an atomic civil time standard that never shifts for daylight saving. GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) is an official time zone in the United Kingdom. While GMT equals UTC+0 in winter, the UK changes to BST (UTC+1) in summer, whereas UTC remains constant year-round.
Why do developers and aviation use UTC?
Because local time zones shift forward and backward for daylight saving, timestamps recorded in local time can be duplicate or ambiguous (for example, 1:30 AM occurs twice on fall-back nights). UTC eliminates all ambiguity by running on a continuously increasing timescale.
What does the "Z" stand for in timestamps (like 2026-11-03T18:00:00Z)?
The letter "Z" represents Zulu time, which is zero offset from UTC. In ISO-8601 formatting, appending Z specifies that the date and time string is recorded in Coordinated Universal Time.