- var_dump: documentation ( source)
<?php
$userDate = '2014-05-15 16:37:23';
$userOffset = '+04:00';
$date = new \DateTime($userDate . ' ' . $userOffset);
var_dump($date);
$date->setTimezone(new \DateTimeZone('UTC'));
var_dump($date);
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');