For anybody unfamiliar with UTC, it's currently the same as UK time.
Coordinated Universal Time or
UTC is the primary
time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is within about one second of
mean solar time (such as
UT1) at 0° longitude (at the
IERS Reference Meridian as the currently used
prime meridian) and is not adjusted for
daylight saving time. It is effectively a successor to
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
As is Z for Zulu (Military & Air Traffic) which is also UTC
The time zone using UTC is sometimes denoted
UTC±00:00 or by the letter
Z—a reference to the equivalent
nautical time zone (GMT), which has been denoted by a
Z since about 1950. Time zones were identified by successive letters of the alphabet and the Greenwich time zone was marked by a
Z as it was the point of origin. The letter also refers to the "zone description" of zero hours, which has been used since 1920 (see
time zone history). Since the
NATO phonetic alphabet word for
Z is "Zulu", UTC is sometimes known as "Zulu time". This is especially true in aviation, where "Zulu" is the universal standard.
[23] This ensures that all pilots, regardless of location, are using the same
24-hour clock, thus avoiding confusion when flying between time zones.
[24] See the
list of military time zones for letters used in addition to
Z in qualifying time zones other than Greenwich.
