Convert WET to GMT Western European Time ↔ Greenwich Mean Time Free Online Secure
Western European Time and Greenwich Mean Time read the same on the clock — the offset is zero. Type a time in WET and it comes back unchanged in GMT, which is the honest answer; what differs between the two names is explained below.
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Through the day — Convert WET to GMT (Western European Time ↔ Greenwich Mean Time)
| WET | GMT |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | 00:00 |
| 03:00 | 03:00 |
| 06:00 | 06:00 |
| 09:00 | 09:00 |
| 12:00 | 12:00 |
| 15:00 | 15:00 |
| 18:00 | 18:00 |
| 21:00 | 21:00 |
Where these units come from
Until the middle of the nineteenth century every town kept its own noon, set by the sun overhead, and nobody minded that the next town was four minutes behind. Railways ended that: a timetable cannot be written for a hundred local noons. Britain put its railways on Greenwich time in 1847, and in 1884 the International Meridian Conference in Washington chose Greenwich as the prime meridian and sketched the twenty-four-hour scheme we still use. Greenwich Mean Time was the world's reference until 1972, when Coordinated Universal Time replaced it: UTC is kept by atomic clocks and tied back to the turning Earth by leap seconds. The abbreviations on this page name standard time — the winter setting — which is why each one is a fixed number of hours rather than something that drifts through the year.
Where you meet them
A time zone becomes real the moment two people in different places have to agree on one moment: a call between offices, a flight that lands before it took off, a market that opens while you are asleep, a deadline written in somebody else's afternoon. Server logs, train and flight schedules and anything stamped with a time are kept in UTC precisely so that the question can always be settled, no matter whose clock was on the wall.
Questions people ask
What about summer time?
The offsets here are standard-time offsets, the ones a zone keeps in winter. Where summer time is observed, the same places move one hour further on for part of the year and take a different name: Central European Time becomes Central European Summer Time, Eastern Standard Time becomes Eastern Daylight Time. The switching dates are not the same in every country, and the two hemispheres change in opposite months, so for a date inside a summer-time period add an hour to whichever side observes it.
Why isn't every difference a whole number of hours?
Because offsets are decided by governments, not by geometry. India is half an hour off the hour, at UTC+05:30; Nepal is three quarters, at UTC+05:45; the Chatham Islands are at UTC+12:45. Any of these can be changed by law, and several countries have moved their offset within living memory.
Is the answer exact?
Where both units are defined in terms of one another by whole numbers, yes — the page says so above the figure, and the only rounding is in how many digits are shown. Where the ratio has no finite decimal, the page shows twelve significant digits and says the relation is approximate rather than pretending otherwise.
Does anything I type leave my device?
No. The arithmetic runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded and there is no server to upload it to. Load the page once and it keeps working with the network switched off.
From an Atlantic island clock to a London one
A hotel in Lanzarote lists breakfast from 07:30 WET. A ferry in the Faroe Islands leaves at 09:15 WET. A tour operator in Madeira schedules an evening show at 21:00 WET. If your own watch, your server or your diary runs on Greenwich Mean Time, you will want to convert WET to GMT before deciding anything. The answer is the shortest in the whole family of time zone conversions: leave the hours and minutes exactly as they are. 07:30 WET is 07:30 GMT, 09:15 WET is 09:15 GMT, and 21:00 WET is 21:00 GMT on the same date.
The page explains why that is, introduces the four territories that use WET, warns about the neighbours that do not, and then illustrates the conversion with ferries, fireworks, pilgrimages and holiday travel. The sum is done in your browser, and nothing you type is sent to a server.
The conversion in a few lines
No sum is needed
Western European Time and Greenwich Mean Time are both UTC+0. Whenever you convert WET to GMT, you therefore write the same hour and the same minute. The date is unchanged. 00:20 WET is 00:20 GMT, 13:05 WET is 13:05 GMT, and 23:55 WET is 23:55 GMT.
Eight rows
00:30 WET is 00:30 GMT. 06:15 WET is 06:15 GMT. 09:00 WET is 09:00 GMT. 12:00 WET is 12:00 GMT. 15:45 WET is 15:45 GMT. 18:00 WET is 18:00 GMT. 21:30 WET is 21:30 GMT. 23:45 WET is 23:45 GMT. Not one of the eight rows moves to another date.
How to double-check
Hold the converter result against a trusted clock that shows UTC, as a final check after you convert WET to GMT. They agree to the minute in winter. In summer a clock labelled WEST is one hour ahead of UTC, and that is the one situation that needs a closer look, explained further down this page.
The places on WET
Portugal, two island groups and a Danish territory
WET is the winter clock of mainland Portugal and Madeira, of the Canary Islands and of the Faroe Islands. The Canary Islands belong to Spain and the Faroe Islands to Denmark, though both keep their own zone, an hour behind the Spanish and Danish mainlands. Principal towns include Lisbon, Porto, Funchal, Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Arrecife and Tórshavn.
The summer name
From the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October these territories use Western European Summer Time, WEST, at UTC+1. In 2026 the dates are 29 March and 25 October, and in each case the change happens at 01:00 UTC.
GMT on the receiving end
Britain, Ireland and elsewhere
GMT is the winter time of Britain and Ireland, the year-round clock of Iceland, Ghana, Senegal and several other countries, and the traditional name for the zero meridian clock. In computing, it is used in network headers and logs for the reference that coincides with UTC.
When the two names diverge
They diverge only when the territory moves to summer time while the log still says GMT. A reading in WEST is one hour ahead of true UTC, so if the destination is a log in UTC, subtract an hour in summer. If the destination is the London wall clock, nothing changes, because London also moves to BST.
The same day, twice
Office hours
An office in Las Palmas open from 09:00 to 17:00 WET keeps exactly the hours of an office in London open from 09:00 to 17:00 GMT. A conference call at any time during the day works equally well for both.
Charter flights from Britain
A morning flight that departs Manchester at 06:30 and flies for about four hours and a quarter touches down on Tenerife at 10:45 on the local clock. The airport board and the ticket agree, so the printed duration is the true one, with no hour to add or subtract.
From the east
Travellers from Central Europe must subtract an hour, and those from Romania two, to reach WET. A flight from Bucharest that leaves at 08:00 local time leaves at 06:00 WET and 06:00 GMT.
When the label matters
One law, three countries
Portugal, Spain and Denmark apply the European Union’s summer time rule to their WET territories. The clocks go forward at 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday in March and go back at 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday in October. Britain adopted the same dates, so you can convert WET to GMT without a change in summer as well. In 2026 these are Sunday 29 March and Sunday 25 October.
A picture of the night
On the night of 28 to 29 March, a clock in Santa Cruz de Tenerife jumps from 01:00 to 02:00, and so does the clock in London. From that moment Tenerife is on WEST and London on BST, both UTC+1. Converting WET to GMT in winter, or WEST to BST in summer, never changes the hour.
The case that does change it
If a time is labelled WEST in July and you need the zero-meridian reference, subtract one hour. That is the one version of the question in which the answer is not simply to convert WET to GMT by copying.
A day trip to the Teide volcano
Cable car and sunrise
The cable car to the upper station on Teide typically runs from about 09:00 to 17:00 in winter. For a British visitor the hours are identical on the home clock. Sunrise in January falls around 08:00, which is the same on a London watch.
Night-sky tours
Star-gazing tours begin at about 21:00 and last three hours. A “convert WET to GMT” calculation makes no difference for a visitor from Britain, but a visitor from Romania ends such a tour at 02:00 on the home clock.
Telescopes on La Palma
Observing time in UT
Large telescopes on La Palma plan their nights in universal time. A slot from 20:00 to 06:00 UT is, in winter, from 20:00 to 06:00 on the local clock, WET. In summer the same slot runs from 21:00 to 07:00 WEST.
For visiting astronomers
An astronomer flying in from London keeps the same hours on the ground in winter. In summer the local clock is an hour ahead of UT. Whoever writes the night plan must therefore say which scale the times are on.
The Tenerife Carnival
The big parade
The carnival in Santa Cruz peaks in February, when the island is on WET. The big procession starts in mid-afternoon, around 16:00, which is 16:00 GMT. British visitors do not have to move their watches.
Evening events
The gala for the carnival queen starts in the evening, at about 21:00 WET. A viewer in Romania sees it at 23:00. Anyone who wants to watch a live stream from Bucharest should do a quick convert WET to GMT and add two hours.
Ferries between the Faroe Islands
Timetables
The Faroe Islands are linked by ferries, undersea tunnels and bridges. A ferry that leaves Tórshavn at 09:15 WET leaves at 09:15 GMT, and in summer the same ferry leaves at 09:15 WEST, which is 09:15 BST.
Short winter days
In January the sun rises around 10:00 and sets around 15:00. A ferry timetable is built around that short day. A traveller who wishes to convert WET to GMT for each departure should leave plenty of spare time for the last return crossing.
Madeira at midnight
The New Year fireworks
Funchal’s fireworks display marks the New Year at midnight local time, 00:00 WET, which is 00:00 GMT. The display lasts about eight minutes. Broadcasters often start their coverage an hour earlier, at 23:00 WET.
For viewers elsewhere
Viewers in Germany see the start at 01:00 CET, in Romania at 02:00. British viewers see it at the moment their own clocks tick over, because Madeira and Britain share the same winter time.
The Azores: not the same
One hour behind
The Azores, an archipelago far out in the Atlantic, are Portuguese but they use their own zone: UTC−1 in winter and UTC+0 in summer. When it is 12:00 in Lisbon in January, it is 11:00 in Ponta Delgada. Anyone who plans a call with the islands and needs to convert WET to GMT should not apply the zero offset to them.
Summer
In summer, the Azores are on UTC+0, which is an hour behind WEST and an hour behind the British summer clock. All year round, then, Ponta Delgada reads one hour less than Lisbon and one hour less than London.
A pilgrimage at Fátima
Times of services
The shrine at Fátima holds a candlelight procession on the evenings of the 12th and 13th of each month from May to October, and a mass in the morning of the 13th. Services run on local time. An evening procession at 21:30 WEST is 21:30 BST, which is why British pilgrims keep their usual watches.
Broadcasts
The shrine broadcasts live. Viewers in Romania should add two hours to the WEST reading, giving 23:30. The broadcast time is the local one, so convert it before you plan an evening around it.
Every hour in one table
WET to GMT
00:00 WET becomes 00:00 GMT. 01:00 WET becomes 01:00 GMT. 02:00 WET becomes 02:00 GMT. 03:00 WET becomes 03:00 GMT. 04:00 WET becomes 04:00 GMT. 05:00 WET becomes 05:00 GMT. 06:00 WET becomes 06:00 GMT. 07:00 WET becomes 07:00 GMT. 08:00 WET becomes 08:00 GMT. 09:00 WET becomes 09:00 GMT. 10:00 WET becomes 10:00 GMT. 11:00 WET becomes 11:00 GMT. 12:00 WET becomes 12:00 GMT. 13:00 WET becomes 13:00 GMT. 14:00 WET becomes 14:00 GMT. 15:00 WET becomes 15:00 GMT. 16:00 WET becomes 16:00 GMT. 17:00 WET becomes 17:00 GMT. 18:00 WET becomes 18:00 GMT. 19:00 WET becomes 19:00 GMT. 20:00 WET becomes 20:00 GMT. 21:00 WET becomes 21:00 GMT. 22:00 WET becomes 22:00 GMT. 23:00 WET becomes 23:00 GMT.
Reading the table
The two columns are identical because the offset is zero. The table still serves as a reminder that no hour crosses a date boundary when you convert WET to GMT.
Ten readings with minutes
Examples
01:05 WET becomes 01:05 GMT. 03:20 WET becomes 03:20 GMT. 05:50 WET becomes 05:50 GMT. 07:35 WET becomes 07:35 GMT. 10:10 WET becomes 10:10 GMT. 13:25 WET becomes 13:25 GMT. 16:40 WET becomes 16:40 GMT. 19:55 WET becomes 19:55 GMT. 22:15 WET becomes 22:15 GMT. 23:05 WET becomes 23:05 GMT.
Everything stays put
Hours, minutes and date remain unchanged in every row.
What part of the day is it?
The Atlantic day
06:00 WET becomes 06:00 GMT (early morning). 08:00 WET becomes 08:00 GMT (morning). 10:00 WET becomes 10:00 GMT (morning). 12:00 WET becomes 12:00 GMT (around midday). 14:00 WET becomes 14:00 GMT (afternoon). 16:00 WET becomes 16:00 GMT (afternoon). 18:00 WET becomes 18:00 GMT (evening). 20:00 WET becomes 20:00 GMT (evening). 22:00 WET becomes 22:00 GMT (night).
How to use the list
The words in brackets describe the part of the day on the islands and in London alike, since the clocks coincide.
Zones near WET
The ladder
From WET, add nothing for GMT, one hour for Madrid and Paris, two for Bucharest, and subtract one hour for the Azores. For Morocco, add one hour except during Ramadan.
One moment on five clocks
When it is 10:00 in Las Palmas, it is 10:00 in London, 11:00 in Madrid, 12:00 in Bucharest and 09:00 in Ponta Delgada. Writing these five times in an invitation lets every reader skip a separate convert WET to GMT.
Dated examples
January
On Tuesday 20 January, 11:15 WET is 11:15 GMT. Neither zone is on summer time.
The first days of summer time
On Tuesday 31 March, 11:15 WEST is 11:15 BST. Both clocks moved forward two days earlier.
July
On Tuesday 21 July, 11:15 WEST is 11:15 BST and 10:15 UTC. If you need the zero meridian, subtract an hour.
November
On Tuesday 3 November, 11:15 WET is 11:15 GMT. Both returned to winter time on 25 October.
Checklist: how to convert WET to GMT
Before
Confirm the place
Mainland Portugal, Madeira, the Canaries and the Faroes use WET. The Azores do not.
Confirm the target
London wall clock or UTC? In summer the difference is one hour.
After
Copy the reading
Write the same hours and minutes.
Keep the date
The date is unchanged.
Winter sun holidays from Britain
The week away
Lanzarote, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura attract hundreds of thousands of British visitors each winter. They land after a four-hour flight at a local time that matches their home clocks, so there is no adjustment for the body and none for the watch. Evening entertainment in the resorts starts at about 21:00, which is 21:00 GMT, and the last bus back to the hotel runs after midnight.
Booking from abroad
Online booking confirmations use the local time of the island. A visitor from Romania must add two hours to read a 10:30 excursion as 12:30 at home, while a visitor from Ireland or Britain leaves the hour as it is. A short convert WET to GMT before packing the itinerary saves confusion at the coach stop.
Moving cargo through the Canary ports
Container ships and berth windows
The ports of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz serve ships between Europe, Africa and the Americas. A berth window that opens at 04:00 WET opens at 04:00 GMT. A pilot ordered for 15:30 boards at 15:30 GMT. European charterers who work in London find that the port schedule needs no adjustment in winter, though in summer it is one hour ahead of UTC.
Paperwork
Bills of lading and port notices carry local times. To keep a single timeline in UTC, a clerk can convert each entry by copying it in winter and subtracting an hour in summer.
Weather from the Atlantic
Forecasts and warnings
Forecast offices on the islands issue warnings in local time. A warning valid until 18:00 WET expires at 18:00 GMT. In summer a warning valid until 18:00 WEST expires at 17:00 UTC.
Why it matters to sailors
Yachts crossing the Atlantic leave from the Canaries in autumn and early winter. They plan departures around forecasts published in UTC. A skipper who hears a time given in local terms should check whether it is WET or WEST before committing.
Mistakes when you convert WET to GMT
Adding an hour for a southern island
The Canaries are far south of London, but their clock is the same.
Confusing Madrid with the Canaries
Madrid is on Central European Time, an hour ahead of the Canaries.
Applying the zero offset to the Azores
In winter the Azores are an hour behind Lisbon and London.
Treating WEST as GMT
A WEST reading is one hour ahead of UTC. If you need UTC, take an hour off.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between WET and GMT?
None in hours: both are UTC+0.
How do I convert WET to GMT?
Copy the hours and minutes. Add and subtract nothing.
What does WEST mean?
Western European Summer Time, UTC+1, used between the last Sundays of March and October.
Are the Canary Islands on WET?
Yes, in winter. In summer they move to WEST, like Portugal.
Is my input sent to a server?
No. It stays in your browser.
More time zone converters
You might also want Convert WET to EET, Convert WET to IST, Convert UTC to GMT, Convert PST to GMT, Convert GMT to CST, Convert EST to WET, Convert PST to EET, Convert GMT to IST, Convert IST to CET. For the opposite direction, use Convert GMT to WET.
In short, to convert WET to GMT you leave the numbers alone and watch only for the Azores, Morocco and the difference between WEST and true UTC. The work is done locally, with no account and no upload.