Western European Summer Time facts for kids

Western European Summer Time (WEST) is a special way of setting clocks during the summer months. It's a type of daylight saving time, which means people move their clocks forward by one hour. This helps to make better use of the daylight. WEST is one hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Time zones of Europe in relation to UTC:

blue	Western European Time (UTC+0) Western European Summer Time (UTC+1)
light blue	Western European Time (UTC+0)
red	Central European Time (UTC+1) Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)
yellow	Eastern European Time (UTC+2) Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)
orange	Kaliningrad Time (UTC+3)
green	Further-eastern European Time (UTC+3), a.k.a. Moscow Time

Light colours indicate countries that do not observe summer time.

What is Western European Summer Time?

Western European Summer Time (WEST) is a system used in several countries to change their clocks for part of the year. This change is called daylight saving time. The main idea is to shift an hour of daylight from the early morning to the evening. This means the sun sets later, giving people more daylight hours in the evening for activities after school or work.

WEST is exactly one hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC is the main time standard that the world uses to regulate clocks and time. Think of it like the world's time clock.

Where is WEST Used?

Many places use Western European Summer Time. These include:

• The Canary Islands (part of Spain)
• The Faroe Islands (part of Denmark)
• The Republic of Ireland
• The Crown dependencies (like Jersey and Guernsey)
• The Madeira islands (part of Portugal)
• Continental Portugal
• The United Kingdom
• Morocco in North Africa

Other Names for WEST

Western European Summer Time is known by different names in some places.

• British Summer Time (BST) is the name used in the United Kingdom.
• Irish Standard Time (IST) is the name used in Ireland. In the Irish language, this is called Am Caighdeánach na hÉireann (ACÉ). Sometimes, people also call it Irish Summer Time (Am Samhraidh na hÉireann).

When Do Clocks Change?

The time change for Western European Summer Time happens twice a year.

• Clocks are moved forward by one hour on the last Sunday in March. This marks the start of WEST.
• Clocks are moved back by one hour on the last Sunday in October. This marks the end of WEST.

Both of these changes happen at 01:00 UTC. During the winter months, when WEST is not in use, these places switch back to Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0).

Images for kids

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  A friendly robot, ready to learn about time zones!