This Python Timezone now() tutorial will show you how to display the current time in another time zone.
Using the datetime library and pytz library (you can find information on both HERE and HERE), we can display time in another time zone in Python. If you don’t have pytz you can install it with pip install pytz at the command line. The below code will give us the information we are looking for:
from datetime import datetime
from pytz import timezone
tz = timezone('America/Los_Angeles')
print(datetime.now(tz).strftime('%a %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S.%f %p %z'))
print(datetime.now(tz).strftime('%a %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S.%f %p %Z'))
#Outputs
#Wed 09 Jun 2021 04:34:42.578497 AM -0700
#Wed 09 Jun 2021 04:34:42.578497 AM PDT
tz = timezone('Europe/London')
print(datetime.now(tz).strftime('%a %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S.%f %p %z'))
print(datetime.now(tz).strftime('%a %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S.%f %p %Z'))
#Outputs
#Wed 09 Jun 2021 12:34:42.579473 PM +0100
#Wed 09 Jun 2021 12:34:42.579473 PM BST
tz = timezone('Europe/Paris')
print(datetime.now(tz).strftime('%a %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S.%f %p %z'))
print(datetime.now(tz).strftime('%a %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S.%f %p %Z'))
#Outputs
#Wed 09 Jun 2021 01:34:42.580484 PM +0200
#Wed 09 Jun 2021 01:34:42.580484 PM CEST
tz = timezone('Australia/Sydney')
print(datetime.now(tz).strftime('%a %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S.%f %p %z'))
print(datetime.now(tz).strftime('%a %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S.%f %p %Z'))
#Outputs
#Wed 09 Jun 2021 09:34:42.583539 PM +1000
#Wed 09 Jun 2021 09:34:42.584592 PM AESTIn the above we are able to see the current date and the time in 4 different time zones.
The key to solving this problem is the now() method and the timezone() method.
The now() method of class datetime returns the current date and time but also accepts an optional parameter for time zone called tz. We define the tz by assigning it the return value of method timezone() of class pytz. We also pass a string that represents the time zone name we are interested in. Find a list of time zones HERE and an article HERE for more information on time zones.
When we call now(tz) we get the current time in the time zone specified.
Using format codes and the strftime() method we can produce a detailed, formatted string that shows full date, time and time zone. Below is a partial list of format codes:
- %Y: Year (4 digits)
- %m: Month
- %z: UTC Offset
- %Z: Time zone name
- %d: Day of month
- %H: Hour (24 hour)
- %M: Minutes
- %S: Seconds
- %f: Microseconds
- %I: Hour 00-12
- %p: AM/PM
- %A: Weekday, full version
Be sure to consult the datetime documentation linked above for more information on formatting codes and strftime().
Obviously we will also want to know what the current, local time zone is at some point. We must first install the tzlocal package with the command pip install tzlocal at the command line. Below is the code:
import pytz
from tzlocal import get_localzone
print(get_localzone())
#prints: America/La_PazAnd we can apply the same techniques to get the local date and time in the local time zone.
from datetime import datetime
from pytz import timezone
from tzlocal import get_localzone
tz = get_localzone()
print(datetime.now(tz).strftime('%a %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S.%f %p %z'))
#prints: Wed 09 Jun 2021 08:10:58.768744 AM -0400
print(datetime.now(tz).strftime('%a %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S.%f %p %Z'))
#prints: Wed 09 Jun 2021 08:10:58.768744 AM -04
print(datetime.now().strftime('%a %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S.%f %p %z'))
#prints: Wed 09 Jun 2021 08:10:58.769742 AM
print(datetime.now().strftime('%a %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S.%f %p %Z'))
#prints: Wed 09 Jun 2021 08:10:58.769742 AMNote that if you use the now() method without the tz parameter you will not get any time zone information in the printed date and time. We must use the tz parameter in the now() method to make our datetime ‘time zone aware’.
Want to know more about datetime and time zones in Python? Check out THIS article.
Use THIS GUIDE to find out how to get a list of all the available time zones in Python.
Thanks for reading! Hopefully you can now display time in another time zone in Python Cheers! 👌👌👌
