Published 1 January 2025 · 4 min read

UK Bank Holidays 2026 — Complete List for England, Scotland & Northern Ireland

If you're the kind of person who likes to get project timelines nailed down early — or you just want first dibs on the best annual leave slots before your colleagues snap them up — you're in the right place. Getting the 2026 bank holidays into your calendar now means fewer surprises when deadlines start piling up.

The honest truth is that most people only think about bank holidays a week or two before they happen, and by then it's too late to plan properly. Let's fix that.

England & Wales — 2026 Bank Holidays

Date	Day	Holiday
1 January	Thursday	New Year's Day
3 April	Friday	Good Friday
6 April	Monday	Easter Monday
4 May	Monday	Early May Bank Holiday
25 May	Monday	Spring Bank Holiday
31 August	Monday	Summer Bank Holiday
25 December	Friday	Christmas Day
28 December	Monday	Boxing Day (substitute)

Scotland — 2026 Bank Holidays

Date	Day	Holiday
1 January	Thursday	New Year's Day
2 January	Friday	2nd January
3 April	Friday	Good Friday
4 May	Monday	Early May Bank Holiday
25 May	Monday	Spring Bank Holiday
3 August	Monday	Summer Bank Holiday
30 November	Monday	St Andrew's Day
25 December	Friday	Christmas Day
28 December	Monday	Boxing Day (substitute)

Northern Ireland — 2026 Bank Holidays

Date	Day	Holiday
1 January	Thursday	New Year's Day
17 March	Tuesday	St Patrick's Day
3 April	Friday	Good Friday
6 April	Monday	Easter Monday
4 May	Monday	Early May Bank Holiday
25 May	Monday	Spring Bank Holiday
13 July	Monday	Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day)
31 August	Monday	Summer Bank Holiday
25 December	Friday	Christmas Day
28 December	Monday	Boxing Day (substitute)

Key differences between UK regions in 2026

As with every year, the three UK regions don't share the same calendar. England and Wales have 8 bank holidays in 2026, Scotland has 9, and Northern Ireland has 10.

Scotland's extra days are 2nd January (because Hogmanay recovery is basically a constitutional right north of the border) and St Andrew's Day on 30th November, which conveniently falls on a Monday in 2026. Scotland also has its summer bank holiday on the first Monday of August (3rd August), nearly a full month before England's version on 31st August.

Northern Ireland gets St Patrick's Day (17th March, a Tuesday in 2026) and Orangemen's Day (12th July falls on a Sunday, so Monday 13th July is the substitute). These are on top of the standard England and Wales holidays.

If you're running a business across multiple UK regions, this matters for project handovers and SLA deadlines. Your Scottish office closing for St Andrew's Day on 30th November while your London team works as normal can create unexpected bottlenecks if nobody's planned for it.

Why Easter dates matter so much

Easter is the holiday that moves around the most, and in 2026 it falls relatively early — Easter Sunday is 5th April, giving us Good Friday on 3rd April and Easter Monday on 6th April.

Why does this matter? Because Easter eats two business days (Good Friday and Easter Monday in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland), and where those days fall in the calendar can shift project deadlines by nearly a week. If you're setting Q1 or Q2 timelines, you absolutely need to know where Easter lands.

Easter's date is based on the lunar cycle, which is why it bounces around. In 2027, it shifts to 28th March — over a week earlier than 2026. Don't just copy your 2026 calendar into 2027 and assume the holidays will line up. They won't.

How to maximise annual leave in 2026

Right, here's the good stuff. 2026 has some genuinely excellent opportunities to stretch your annual leave. Here are the best strategies for workers in England and Wales:

• New Year: New Year's Day falls on a Thursday. Book just Friday 2nd January off and you've got a four-day weekend for 1 day of leave. Easy win.
• Easter: Good Friday (3rd April) and Easter Monday (6th April) already give you a four-day weekend. Book Monday 30th March to Thursday 2nd April off, and you'll get 10 consecutive days using just 4 leave days.
• Early May: Bank holiday Monday 4th May. Book Tuesday 5th to Friday 8th May off for a 9-day break using 4 leave days.
• Late May: Spring bank holiday Monday 25th May. Book Tuesday 26th to Friday 29th May for another 9-day break using 4 leave days.
• Christmas: This is the big one. Christmas Day falls on a Friday, and the Boxing Day substitute is Monday 28th December. You automatically get a four-day weekend without using any leave. Book Tuesday 22nd to Thursday 24th December off and you've got a massive break over Christmas and New Year for just 3 leave days.

Substitute bank holidays in 2026

When a bank holiday lands on a weekend, the government shifts it to the next available weekday. In 2026, Boxing Day (26th December) falls on a Saturday, so Monday 28th December becomes the substitute. That's what creates the lovely Christmas Day Friday through to substitute Monday long weekend.

Over in Northern Ireland, the Battle of the Boyne (12th July) falls on a Sunday, so Monday 13th July is the substitute. St Patrick's Day (17th March) is a Tuesday, so no substitute needed there.

And here's a reminder that catches people off guard: bank holidays aren't an automatic right to a day off. They're part of your statutory minimum 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave. Your employer can require you to work on bank holidays and give you time off on other days instead. Always check your contract.

Practical tips for planning ahead

2026 has some genuinely favourable long weekends, especially at Christmas. Here's how to make the most of them:

For employees: Get your leave requests in early. Everyone spots the same opportunities — especially the Easter and Christmas windows — so the earlier you book, the better your chances. Most HR systems open annual leave booking in January, so don't wait until March to sort your Easter break.

For businesses: Build these dates into your project timelines from the start of the year. Payroll teams need to adjust payment schedules when pay dates fall on bank holidays. Customer service teams should communicate changes to opening hours well before each bank holiday cluster, especially Easter and Christmas when multiple holidays bunch together.

For everyone: Bookmark the GOV.UK bank holidays page (gov.uk/bank-holidays). It's the official source, it's always up to date, and it separates the holidays by region. If there's ever a one-off bank holiday announced — like the one for the late Queen's funeral in 2022 — that page will be updated first.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most common mistake we see is people assuming all UK regions share the same bank holidays. They don't. If your team spans Scotland and England, your project timeline needs to account for both calendars.

The second mistake is not checking for substitute days. If you just look at the calendar and see Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, you might assume there's no holiday that week — but there is, it's just been moved to Monday.

And finally, don't forget that Easter moves every year. Plenty of people set recurring annual deadlines without realising that Easter in 2026 is a full week later than Easter in 2025. Always re-check your dates.

Related articles