diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8a1aa4eb..b4a501a8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -482,6 +482,7 @@ if(AARE_TESTS)
       ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/hist/PixelHistogram.test.cpp
       ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/hist/PedestalTrackingPixelHistogram.test.cpp
       ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/JungfrauDataFile.test.cpp
+      ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/logger.test.cpp
       ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/MultiThreadedFileReader.test.cpp
       ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/NumpyFile.test.cpp
       ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/NumpyHelpers.test.cpp
diff --git a/include/aare/logger.hpp b/include/aare/logger.hpp
index 278d4d7d..6374aeea 100644
--- a/include/aare/logger.hpp
+++ b/include/aare/logger.hpp
@@ -2,9 +2,12 @@
 #pragma once
 /*Utility to log to console*/
 
+#include <chrono>
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <ctime>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <sstream>
-#include <sys/time.h>
+#include <string>
 
 namespace aare {
 
@@ -55,12 +58,53 @@ enum TLogLevel {
 #define __AT__                                                                 \
     std::string(__FILE__) + std::string("::") + std::string(__func__) +        \
         std::string("(): ")
-#define __SHORT_FORM_OF_FILE__                                                 \
-    (strrchr(__FILE__, '/') ? strrchr(__FILE__, '/') + 1 : __FILE__)
+#define __SHORT_FORM_OF_FILE__ aare::short_file_name(__FILE__)
 #define __SHORT_AT__                                                           \
     std::string(__SHORT_FORM_OF_FILE__) + std::string("::") +                  \
         std::string(__func__) + std::string("(): ")
 
+/**
+ * @brief Strip the directory part of a path, accepting both '/' and '\\' as
+ * separators so that __FILE__ is shortened the same way on every platform.
+ */
+inline const char *short_file_name(const char *path) noexcept {
+    const char *base = path;
+    for (const char *p = path; *p != '\0'; ++p) {
+        if (*p == '/' || *p == '\\')
+            base = p + 1;
+    }
+    return base;
+}
+
+/**
+ * @brief Local wall-clock time as HH:MM:SS.mmm (strftime "%X" plus
+ * milliseconds), built from std::chrono so it works on every platform.
+ */
+inline std::string log_timestamp() {
+    using namespace std::chrono;
+    const auto now = system_clock::now();
+    const time_t t = system_clock::to_time_t(now);
+    const auto ms = duration_cast<milliseconds>(now.time_since_epoch()) % 1000;
+
+    tm local{};
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+    localtime_s(&local, &t);
+#else
+    localtime_r(&t, &local);
+#endif
+
+    constexpr size_t buffer_len = 12;
+    char buffer[buffer_len];
+    if (strftime(buffer, buffer_len, "%X", &local) == 0)
+        buffer[0] = '\0';
+
+    constexpr size_t result_len = 100;
+    char result[result_len];
+    snprintf(result, result_len, "%s.%03d", buffer,
+             static_cast<int>(ms.count()));
+    return result;
+}
+
 class Logger {
     std::ostringstream os;
     TLogLevel m_level = AARE_LOG_LEVEL;
@@ -111,23 +155,7 @@ class Logger {
         return os;
     }
 
-    static std::string Timestamp() {
-        constexpr size_t buffer_len = 12;
-        char buffer[buffer_len];
-        time_t t;
-        ::time(&t);
-        tm r;
-        strftime(buffer, buffer_len, "%X", localtime_r(&t, &r));
-        buffer[buffer_len - 1] = '\0';
-        struct timeval tv;
-        gettimeofday(&tv, nullptr);
-        constexpr size_t result_len = 100;
-        char result[result_len];
-        snprintf(result, result_len, "%s.%03ld", buffer,
-                 static_cast<long>(tv.tv_usec) / 1000);
-        result[result_len - 1] = '\0';
-        return result;
-    }
+    static std::string Timestamp() { return log_timestamp(); }
 };
 
 // TODO! Do we need to keep the runtime option?
diff --git a/src/logger.test.cpp b/src/logger.test.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..17218d96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/logger.test.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+#include "aare/logger.hpp"
+
+#include <catch2/catch_test_macros.hpp>
+#include <catch2/matchers/catch_matchers_string.hpp>
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <sstream>
+#include <string>
+
+using Catch::Matchers::EndsWith;
+using Catch::Matchers::Matches;
+using Catch::Matchers::StartsWith;
+
+TEST_CASE("Log timestamp is HH:MM:SS.mmm", "[logger]") {
+    const std::string ts = aare::Logger::Timestamp();
+    REQUIRE_THAT(ts, Matches(R"(\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}\.\d{3})"));
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("short_file_name strips both kinds of directory separators",
+          "[logger]") {
+    REQUIRE(std::string(aare::short_file_name("/a/b/File.cpp")) == "File.cpp");
+    REQUIRE(std::string(aare::short_file_name("C:\\a\\b\\File.cpp")) ==
+            "File.cpp");
+    REQUIRE(std::string(aare::short_file_name("File.cpp")) == "File.cpp");
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("LOG writes one coloured line with timestamp and level", "[logger]") {
+    std::ostringstream captured;
+    auto *previous = std::clog.rdbuf(captured.rdbuf());
+    LOG(aare::logWARNING) << "hello " << 42;
+    std::clog.rdbuf(previous);
+
+    const std::string line = captured.str();
+    // <colour>- HH:MM:SS.mmm WARNING: hello 42<reset>\n
+    REQUIRE_THAT(line, StartsWith(std::string(YELLOW BOLD) + "- "));
+    REQUIRE_THAT(line, Matches(std::string("\x1b\\[33m\x1b\\[1m- ") +
+                               R"(\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}\.\d{3} WARNING: hello 42)" +
+                               "\x1b\\[0m\n"));
+    REQUIRE_THAT(line, EndsWith(std::string(RESET) + "\n"));
+}