In the graph below you see the time zone difference between Central Daylight Time and Central European Time. Drag the bubble to adjust the time and to see the corresponding time in the other time zone.
Central Daylight Time is the time zone of the central US and Canada, as well as most of Central America when observing daylight saving time in the summer, including cities like Winnipeg, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Mexico City. Central European Time is the time zone of most central European countries, and the Nordics, with places like Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Madrid, Rome, Zurich and Warsaw.
Usually it is preferable to schedule meetings before lunch for the person in CDT and in the afternoon for the person in CET.
More CDT conversions
CDT to BST, CDT to MDT, CDT to EST, CDT to IST, CDT to GMT
More CET conversions
CET to JST, CET to CEST, CET to GMT, CET to EST, CET to IST
Central Daylight Time is the time zone of the central US and Canada, as well as Mexico and most of Central America. It is five hours behind UTC and is observed during the summer months, between March and November. Sometimes the zone is referred to as CDST – Central Daylight Saving Time Zone. In the winter CDT becomes CST – Central Standard Time.
CDT is observed in the US, Canada, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras i.e. all Central American countries. In the US it is only the states in the central US that observes CDT, from Wisconsin in the West to Tennessee in the East, and from Michigan in the North to Florida in the South. Similarly, only Canadian provinces in the middle of the country observe CDT. All of Mexico observes CDT, except the North West corner of the country.
US: Alabama, Iowa, Louisiana, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Illinois and many more.
Canada: Manitoba, Ontario (most parts), Saskatchewan (only Creighton and Denare Beach)
Mexico: Chiapas, México, Oaxaca, Yuca tán, San Luis Potosi and more.
CDT is the daylight saving time of Central Standard Time. There are only a handful of exceptions in this time zone that do not observe DST, so it is advisable to always check the exact location (e.g. using our time zone converter) instead of relying on time zone abbreviations.
CET is, as the name implies, the time zone for Central Europe. Important to note is that in summer Central European Time becomes CEST, which stands for Central European Summer Time. In practice, “Central” means “Western” as Central European Time includes everything from the Nordics to Spain. Note that Portugal and the UK are not on CET but instead observe GMT and that Eastern Europe (every country from Finland and South) observe Eastern European Time.
All countries in Western Europe, except Portugal and the UK, observe Central European Time. This includes Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Montenegro and Gibraltar to name a few.
The list is long but includes Berlin, Oslo, Madrid, Rome, Tirana, Amsterdam, Paris, Warsaw, Bern, Geneva and Copenhagen.
Daylight Saving Time is applied in Central Europe/Western Europe. CET in that case becomes CEST – Central European Summer Time and is one hour different. CEST is observed between the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October.