title: How do I construct a UTC `datetime` object in Python?
body: <p>I am using <a href="https://docs.python.org/2/library/datetime.html#datetime-objects" rel="noreferrer">the <code>datetime.datetime</code> class</a> from the Python standard library. I wish to construct an instance of this class with the UTC timezone. To do so, I gather that I need to pass as the <code>tzinfo</code> argument to the <code>datetime</code> constructor some instance of <a href="https://docs.python.org/2/library/datetime.html#datetime.tzinfo" rel="noreferrer">the <code>tzinfo</code> class</a>.</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://docs.python.org/2/library/datetime.html#tzinfo-objects" rel="noreferrer">The documentation for the <code>tzinfo</code> class</a> says that:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p><code>tzinfo</code> is an abstract base class, meaning that this class should not be instantiated directly. You need to derive a concrete subclass, and (at least) supply implementations of the standard <code>tzinfo</code> methods needed by the <code>datetime</code> methods you use. The <code>datetime</code> module does not supply any concrete subclasses of <code>tzinfo</code>.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Now I'm stumped. All I want to do is represent "UTC". I should be able to do that using approximately three characters, like this</p>
  
  <pre><code>import timezones
  ...
  t = datetime(2015, 2, 1, 15, 16, 17, 345, timezones.UTC)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>In short, I'm not going to do what the documentation tells me to do. So what's my alternative?</p>