The list of countries in utc+0 splits into two groups: places that never change their clocks and places that do. Iceland and a band of West African nations stay on UTC+0 all year. The United Kingdom, Ireland, and Portugal use it only in winter and shift to UTC+1 in summer. The difference between permanent and seasonal zero-offset zones matters if you are scheduling a call or booking a flight.

What Does UTC+0 Mean?

UTC+0 is the time zone with no offset from Coordinated Universal Time. It is centred on the prime meridian, which runs through Greenwich, London. In aviation and military contexts, UTC+0 is called Zulu time and written as Z. A time labelled Z means the same as UTC+0.

Ask what countries use gmt and you are asking the same question. Greenwich Mean Time is the civil time in the United Kingdom during winter, tied to the same zero meridian. For practical purposes, UTC+0 and GMT are interchangeable when daylight saving is not in effect.

Countries That Use UTC+0 All Year

Permanent Zero-Offset Nations

These utc 0 time zone countries never adjust their clocks. They give you a constant time reference, year round.

  • Iceland: Iceland uses UTC+0 all year and does not observe DST. The sun rises and sets at wildly different times between summer and winter, but the clock never changes.
  • Ghana: On the west coast of Africa, Ghana stays on UTC+0 throughout the year with no DST shift.
  • Senegal: Senegal, on the westernmost point of mainland Africa, uses UTC+0 permanently.
  • Côte d'Ivoire: This West African nation, also known as Ivory Coast, follows UTC+0 all year with no DST.
  • Other West African countries: Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, and Togo all use UTC+0 year round.

Countries That Use UTC+0 Only in Winter

Seasonal Zero-Offset Zones

Several European countries shift to UTC+1 during summer. They match UTC+0 only during the winter half of the year. The question is iceland on gmt highlights the contrast: Iceland does not change, while these others do.

United Kingdom

The UK uses GMT (UTC+0) in winter and British Summer Time (BST, UTC+1) in summer. Clocks go forward in late March and back in late October.

Ireland

Ireland uses UTC+0 in winter and Irish Standard Time (UTC+1) in summer. The change dates match the UK.

Portugal

Mainland Portugal uses Western European Time (UTC+0) in winter and UTC+1 in summer. The Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal, use UTC-1 in winter and UTC+0 in summer. They are not in the zero-offset zone.

Canary Islands (Spain)

The Canary Islands use Western European Time (UTC+0) in winter and UTC+1 in summer. They run one hour behind mainland Spain, which uses Central European Time.

What is the WET Time Zone?

Western European Time, abbreviated WET, is the wet time zone that corresponds to UTC+0 in winter. The United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, and the Canary Islands use it during the winter months. In summer, these regions switch to Western European Summer Time (WEST), which is UTC+1. WET differs from the permanent UTC+0 zones in West Africa and Iceland because it includes a DST shift.

How to Know If a Place Uses UTC+0 Right Now

Check the Season and the DST Rule

  1. Find out if the country observes daylight saving time. If it does not, and it is listed in the permanent UTC+0 group, it is always UTC+0.
  2. If the country does observe DST, check the current season. In the Northern Hemisphere, winter months (November through February) put the UK, Ireland, Portugal, and the Canary Islands on UTC+0. Summer months (March through October) put them on UTC+1.
  3. For West African nations, the answer is simple: they are always UTC+0. They do not use DST.
  4. For Iceland, the answer is also simple: it is always UTC+0.

UTC vs GMT a Quick Clarification

UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is an atomic time standard. GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) is based on the Earth's rotation. In everyday use, they are the same time. The difference matters for scientific precision, but for telling time in the countries listed here, treat UTC and GMT as identical. When a country uses UTC+0 in winter, it is using GMT during that period.

Using Thetimezone.us for UTC+0 Conversions

To convert times between your local time and any of the UTC+0 countries, thetimezone.us offers a free, live world clock and time zone converter. No signup required. Check the current time in Iceland, Ghana, or the UK and see whether they are on UTC+0 or UTC+1 right now.