How to convert local time string to UTC?

Question

How do I convert a datetime string in local time to a string in UTC time?

I\'m sure I\'ve done this before, but can\'t find it and SO will hopefull

Answer 1

For getting around day-light saving, etc.

None of the above answers particularly helped me. The code below works for GMT.

def get_utc_from_local(date_time, local_tz=None):
    assert date_time.__class__.__name__ == 'datetime'
    if local_tz is None:
        local_tz = pytz.timezone(settings.TIME_ZONE) # Django eg, "Europe/London"
    local_time = local_tz.normalize(local_tz.localize(date_time))
    return local_time.astimezone(pytz.utc)

import pytz
from datetime import datetime

summer_11_am = datetime(2011, 7, 1, 11)
get_utc_from_local(summer_11_am)
>>>datetime.datetime(2011, 7, 1, 10, 0, tzinfo=)

winter_11_am = datetime(2011, 11, 11, 11)
get_utc_from_local(winter_11_am)
>>>datetime.datetime(2011, 11, 11, 11, 0, tzinfo=)