Universal time right now: Saturday, June 13, 2026. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is the world's standard time reference — every timezone is defined relative to UTC.
UTC = Coordinated Universal Time. It is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time.
UTC is based on atomic clocks worldwide, with occasional "leap seconds" added to keep it within 0.9 seconds of UT1 (mean solar time at the prime meridian, 0° longitude through Greenwich).
UTC vs GMT: Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the historical predecessor and is still used colloquially as a synonym for UTC. Technically GMT is a time zone, UTC is a time standard — they are nearly identical but not interchangeable in scientific contexts.
UTC offset: Every time zone has a UTC offset (e.g. UTC+7 for Indonesia/Jakarta, UTC-5 for US/Eastern in winter). The offset says how many hours ahead or behind UTC the local time is.
Does UTC observe DST? No. UTC has no daylight saving time. Some countries adjust their local UTC offset twice a year (e.g. US shifts UTC-5 → UTC-4 in spring), but UTC itself never changes.
| UTC offset | Cities (winter) | Local time |
|---|---|---|
| UTC-10 | Honolulu | 15:42 |
| UTC-8 | Los Angeles, Vancouver | 17:42 |
| UTC-5 | New York, Toronto, Lima | 20:42 |
| UTC-3 | Buenos Aires, São Paulo | 22:42 |
| UTC+0 | London, Lisbon, Dublin | 01:42 |
| UTC+1 | Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Rome | 02:42 |
| UTC+2 | Cairo, Athens, Helsinki | 03:42 |
| UTC+3 | Moscow, Istanbul, Riyadh, Nairobi | 04:42 |
| UTC+4 | Dubai, Baku | 05:42 |
| UTC+5.5 | Mumbai, Delhi, Colombo | 07:12 |
| UTC+7 | Jakarta, Bangkok, Hanoi | 08:42 |
| UTC+8 | Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Manila, Kuala Lumpur | 09:42 |
| UTC+9 | Tokyo, Seoul | 10:42 |
| UTC+10 | Sydney, Melbourne (winter) | 11:42 |
| UTC+12 | Auckland (winter) | 13:42 |