Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) (UTC)

The international reference time scale used for civil timekeeping, maintained close to Earth rotation by leap seconds.

UTC is generated from atomic time and is the basis from which time-zone offsets are stated. It replaced Greenwich Mean Time as the principal technical reference for navigation, communications, meteorology and many legal or operational systems.

UTC is not a time zone tied to seasonal clock changes. Accurate timestamps should state UTC explicitly, especially in logs, forecasts, navigation warnings and distress communications.